Vans by Kenzo

Cross the exuberant colors and lively prints of Paris fashion label Kenzo with the nerdy hip of the iconic Vans sneaker and you’ve got one of the hottest leisure shoes of the season. For Kenzo’s new creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, both Los Angeles natives, the partnership is a natural—they’ve been Vans fans since childhood, they say, and “own too many pairs to count”.

Both labels got their start in the early 1970s: the iconic crepe-soled Vans deck shoes as the skateboarder’s sneaker of choice and the Paris-based Japanese designer as the first high-fashion label to consistently incorporate bold, energetic young looks in his ready-to-wear collections.

The Kenzo-Vans will appear in three installments over the summer months. The first edition marries Kenzo’s vibrant net prints with the original Vans skate shoe, the Era, and includes seven color schemes featuring the bright blue, white, grass green and brilliant red seen throughout the Kenzo Spring/Summer 2012 collection.

Kenzo, 3 pl des Victoires, 1st, 01.40.39.72.03. www.kenzo.com

Originally published in the July/August issue of France Today