After several months of hinting at a team-up, acclaimed designer Jun Takahashi’s premiered his elegant take on Vans’ footwear staples the Old School and the Era, with five styles on offer.

While the runway is where they shine, Japanese contemporary fashion frontrunners Undercover are no strangers to collabs with streetwear brands, particularly with head designer Jun Takahashi’s roots and reverence for the punk scene. There’s been previous lines with Nike, BAPE and Medicom, and most recently a team-up with Supreme – by way of an anarchy-inspired leather jacket collection.

Now Undercover’s given a fresh makeover to two signature Vans styles: the OG Era LX and the OG Old Skool LX. Undercover’s Old Skool LX comes in both a dove grey and a rich bordeuax, each dotted with a spray of miniature roses on the body and the undersole, with nice detailing by way of a suede toe and leather stripe running lengthways along the shoe (with the bordeux shade’s stripe highlighted in a lighter red stitching). It’s a soft look, a perfect exercise in restrained modern Japanese design:

While still pared back, Undercover’s OG Era LX Vans design has a more characteristically punk look – black, red or white colourways printed with lyrics from UK rockers Temples (‘take me in time, time to the music, take me away to the twilight zone’). A skater himself, Jun drew on his teenage years skateboarding when approaching his OG Era design.

You can get your feet into a pair of UNDERCOVER x Vault by Vans as of Saturday 4^th February at Up There Store (Melbourne), Above the Clouds (Sydney), High & Lows (Perth) and Laced (Brisbane).

Photos: Jason Paparoulas