Some clothing brands seem to just sit well next to the word “trusty”. Throw on your trusty Levi’s, say, or Converse All Stars, or pulling pants. Okay, maybe not the last one – they’ve let you down too often. We should have said Vans, the skate shoe brand with instantly recognizable hi-top and low-top silhouettes.
While Vans gear was tough enough already, built to withstand the rigours of skating, the hard-wearing models have got tougher, thanks to a collaboration with fellow Californian brand The North Face.
TNF has put its mark on two of Vans’ hallowed shoe designs – the high-top SK8-Hi MTE (£105) and low-rise Old Skool MTE (£95). The collaboration turns skate kicks into winter-ready shoes with features like water-repellant finishes, a heat retention layer between the sockliner and outsole for extra warmth, and a new vulcanised lug outsole design that draws on The North Face’s experience with snow boots.
If you’re all set for winter shoes already, check out the rebooted Torrey MTE jacket (£190), which confines the traditional quilted design to the lining and slaps on in The North Face’s signature primary-colour hues.
It’s not all one-way traffic though, with Vans also stamping its imprint on The North Face’s base camp duffle (£100) – an ever-present fixture on baggage carousels the world over. The Vans spin? Skate straps to attach the duffle to your board. And even if you haven’t owned a board since your youth, the embroidered patch on this limited-edition range will help you tell your bag from the other base camps on the carousel.
