First released in the spring of 1966 in Anaheim, California, Vans Authentic could be called the original skate shoe. In fact, the Era, launched a decade later in 1976, was designed specifically to mimic the Authentic while adding more padding and comfort for skateboarding purposes.
Sixty years later, the Authentic remains one of the most legendary and iconic sneakers of all time. Yet, it is still being iterated on in interesting ways. The latest tweak can be found in the Vans Premium Authentic Ease Checkerboard Shoe, which also sees an alteration to one of Vans’ signature stylistic elements.
Check yourself before you wreck yourself
Sneaker silhouettes aside, there’s one stylistic element that, perhaps above all else, is most closely associated with Vans: checkerboard. And while it’s not quite as old as the brand and its first sneakers, it still has multiple decades under its belt.
In fact, it was launched alongside the Vans Slip-On in 1977, just a year after the first Era. So the story goes, the brand’s co-founder, Paul Van Doren, noticed that kids were scribbling checkerboard patterns on their sneakers’ outsoles, so he decided to apply that same pattern to the uppers of one of his signature sneakers. The rest, as they say, is history.
