WILTON WAY CLOSING PARTY/VANS ARCHIVE SHOWCASE!‏‏

 

greetings

as you may or may not know we have closed for business after nearly 5 years on wilton way, but dont worry this is not the last you will hear from of the other side of the pillow.
we will re-open again next year in east london as exclusive original vans specialists. our priority will be online business however we will establish a space for viewings by appointment.

before we close however we will host a showcase the likes of which have never been seen before!

at this time there is no official vans archive documenting the history of the southern cali brand. for some time we have taken it upon ourselves to amass what we hope 1 day will become THE official archive.

for 1 time only we will showcase the largest known collection & nearest possible thing to a complete made in usa vintage vans archive. we will host live music, breakdancing & welcome special guests including vans legends of skate & bmx. wear your usa made originals for access to the VIP room with top secret vault items!

thanx 4 your continued support!
don't sleep... on TOSOSP

#flyoffthewall
https://www.facebook.com/events/244266605728974/
15.11.13
19:66pm

61 wilton way
e8 1bg
London
UK

for more details follow us on instagram/twitter via @pillowHEAT

henrY 

9,10,11.11.12 ¬ TOSOTP x VAN DOREN X VAULT X VvARPED

 

NAME DROP IN' ¬
you know you've had a good weekend when you wake up to this in your inbox

 

PEAK'N ¬
you may have seen this tee being held in the same fashion before? i was re-enacting the time sitting in the very office of the man himself who was now standing in my 'office'!

 

SVD ¬
before you ask, i was going to sell this tee, until this moment.... alas i will now have to hang on to it.  

no caption will capture this moment 

so we opened the 'vault' for the man himself. for those who missed the action, here's a taste of the flavour now packed away again til the official 'archive' opens. a prospect now less of a pipe dream!

& the sun going down wasn't the end of our fun! ¬
check the link (in progress) below for more sun-lit heat indoors

the rock & roll continued at Vans Warped Tour wherein said legends ripped up the vert! dmc also crushed on bmx!

HALF OF CAB ¬
we then found ourselves within a touching distance of 2 icons!

i then had to pinch myself as me & my girl steph sat across eachother in conversation with stevie & christian RESPECTively! we spoke at length (& depth) about skating, vans, life & spirit with 2 individuals who despite spending most of their lives getting fresh air, remain grounded & more down to earth than you can imagine.

i have nothing but the GReatest AtTITUDE for the numerological alignment, the hard work, & the support of the Vans Europe family which conspired to make events this weekend to unfold as they did.

STOCK HUNTING 101; lessen 2 ¬ original VANS box(ing day)

for lesson 2 of our stock hunting workshop i thought it fitting on boxing day to think outside the box & profile the original VANS shoe boxes from the days of US production. we unflinchingly continue to tap into the appeal of narrowly targeted goods & tell tedious tales of the long-tail niche market, because when it comes to hunting original VANS one needs not to be narrow-minded but have discerning eye & instead a narrowed mind.

we begin with the most (relatively) available box from the final days of USA made vans production from the mid 90's. it comes in the familiar corrugated recycles brown cardboard which evokes memories of the brown tissue paper stuck to the tacky vulcanised midsole of your treasure inside. a more muted offerring from vans compared to the more off the wall colour-coded boxes of the 70's & 80's. interestingly this was the 1st time in which vans actively promoted what set them apart in that of the handmade aspects of quality/comfort/durability & persued a more accountable stance emphasising the home-grown & recycled appeal. ironically the utopian hope would not last long however as this would be their last forray into methods of vulcanisation, as production moved off-shore & the 'lessenning' ensued. as such, if you find a cache of brown recycled boxes like this, don't count your blessings nor your cash too soon, because this was the crossover period remember!

many a VANS connoisseur, including myself, will admit to the fact of being deceived by both the shoes & the boxes of this mid-90's crossover period & scoring themself what looked like USA made & turned out to be a pair of made in china devil spawn. at 1st glance the box appears almost identical however upon closer inspection all the markings of the home-grown aspect are gone as californication became but a distant memory. some handmade markings still remain which justifiably(?) was still accurate at this time, however all mention of the made in usa mantra dissolved into the ether. at the cost of designing & producing a new box design it was simply tweaked, which we wish was only the case too for the shoes themselves (see lessen 3).

until very recntly this was the extent of the crossover box confusion until VANS throws another spanner in the vulcanisation works. there too exists out there a 'MADE IN ECC' transitional line. it is believed that the european chamber typically lagged in their implementation of eastern production. the truth about the rumoured superiority of ECC production however is so far unfounded. the materials may well be superior to that of chinese sources however to us they simply look like the bastard child of uncle sam.

& so my hunter & collector friends, don't be fooled by issues of cosmopolitan import (& export). although all incarnations of the corrugated brown box reveal VANS inc 1994, trust your instincts & don't get too excited before you take a closer look for the official 'MADE IN USA' markings of orange, californication 92665. here endeth the lessen.

THIS is the dynasty; here endeth the lessen

1960's

1970's

1980's

1990's

THIS is the beginning! here endeth the lessen