Pride Month 2021 is around the corner, and Vans is getting in the festive spirit early by announcing a special Pride collection of footwear and apparel — plus a $200K USD donation split between four LGBTQ+ organizations. Centered around a “spirit of creative self-expression,” the product offerings reinterpret Vans’ classic checkerboard pattern in a myriad of colorful fashions, ranging from repeating prints to patchwork-style material medleys.
Footwear options include classic silhouettes like the Slip-On, Era, Sk8-Mid and platformed Old Skool plus newer models like the UltraRange EXO. All four of these pairs interpret the collection’s ethos in a unique fashion, and arrive in multiple makeups like enlarged checkerboard print with each square covered in a repeating print that replicates one of the letters in LGBTQ+, a patchwork-style mixture of Pride-colored leathers and suedes and much more. There’s also special apparel like T-shirts and shorts.
“When I was younger, I was so scared to merge my queer life and my skate life,” said skateboarder and campaign photographer Samuel McGuire. “To see the two crashing into each other in such a beautiful and organic way is cool.” Apart from the footwear and apparel collection, Vans is also donating $200K USD to a quartet of LGBTQ+-focused organizations: Vans America’s donation will be split between GLSEN and Casa 1, Vans Europe’s donation will go to Where Love is Illegal and Vans Asia-Pacific’s donation will go to Tokyo Rainbow Pride.
Vans’ Pride Month 2021 collection is available on the Vans webstore now. A Pride-centric Vault by Vans collection is also slated to release on May 24.
Elsewhere in the world of Vans, take a look at the new Wacko Maria x Vault by Vans Slip-On collection.
