We were invited to attend the first House Of Vans Wear Test alongside other core stores from the UK.
We turned up in the early afternoon and we were greeted with a locker full of product each…
Here is Luigi opening his bag of treats and lacing up a pair of Gilbert Crocket’s. This was the shoe we had all been invited to test out. Whilst being fed and watered with coffee and delicious banana bread we opened the rest of our package and we were overwhelmed by the level of detail on this item. Everyone there to rep their respective stores received some customised socks…
Shortly after everyone had opened their lockers and guzzled some drinks we were whisked away into the cinema space. This occupies one of the many tunnels in this new fun filled subterranean maze…
Here were given a presentation about the shoes we would be testing hosted by product manager Juss Apivala. He took us through the design process for the shoe which Gilbert Crocket was largely involved in. As most of the technology packed in to a Vans shoe is largely under the bonnet so to speak he broke it down for us. He explained the thought process and design behind their new Wafflecup soles. These fuse the security and cushioning of a cup sole shoe with the flexibilty of a Vulcanised one. He also took us through how the Duracap works, in this case increasing the durability of an already somewhat bullet proof suede shoe. We managed to get some time with Juss so we will be bringing you a more detailed look at these design elements soon. Alexis Jauzion was also there to talk a bit more about Gilbert Crocket and welcome us out for a skate in this new space…
We took the shoes out for a spin, first stop the mini ramp. First of all if you haven’t visited the House Of Vans space yet, the mini is super fun. It’s quick and whippy with a decent extension to mix things up. We spent quite a bit of time in that zone. Having spent a long time at one point skating in pretty much only the Half Cab I later stopped when I found it became baggy for me too quickly. That being said I once had a pair of Syndicate Half Cabs which were canvas and we had a magical Summer together until they were gone forever. These kept their shape and it was much the same as the Gilbert Crocket shoes we were trying out. The cup sole element definitely keeps your foot snug in there and not like it’s swimming around. Gilbert Crocket’s shoe may look at first glance like a regular Old Skool but there is a lot more going on in there, you should try a pair on and see how they work for you. Luigi having done himself a mischief with the first kickflip of the day wasted no time in getting involved…
His fifth day skating in a row saw Byfleet’s finest 5-0 down the Hubba first go. Apologies for the fuzzy action shot, my little Lumix struggled at the task in hand, even in sports mode but you get the spirit of things. After a couple of hours left to our own devices and a zip around the bowl we were fed once more and left there happy campers with a story to tell. Thank you to Vans for their hospitality, we will bring you a more in depth break down of the product presentation with Juss very soon. Shop for Vans HERE