I came across this recent Vogue article about Charlene Holy Bear, a member of the Standing Rock Lakota Sioux Tribe, who has been making some noise in the fashion world, with her intricate traditional Lakota beadwork. The reason you’re hearing about her from us, is that she has made some of the most amazing pairs of custom Vans that we’ve ever seen! We’ve seen plenty of customs featuring some type of beadwork on them, but none at this level of detail and accuracy. You can tell these are done professionally, by someone who’s put in a lot of work to perfect their craft. The design aesthetic alone is eye-catching, with the vibrant colors, and unique square within a square patterns which lend themselves nicely to a classic Vans checkerboard print, but the tightness and perfect straightness of her beadwork is something that can’t be overlooked. It’s a thing of beauty, and I just wanted to show respect where respect is due, and share some awesome Vans with you all. It also looks like some folks over at corporate have hooked her up with some pairs to work on, which is really cool. Vans always supports the arts, and well, just about any cool shit, lol!
Each pair of Vans shoes that she creates can take about 2 weeks to complete, so don’t be surprised that a pair will set you back a cool $950, which you can pre-order on her webstore, where you can request specific colors and styles for your pair.
Check out a few of her prior clients’ pairs after the jump!
I ordered my pair yesterday. it takes more like 6 – 8 weeks to get them and half the payment is due at ordering. the rest when finished. and i didnt pay $950. it was less. but i will leave it to charlene to price each pair to her customers.
Thank you for review. I appreciate your insights and hope to share your blog. Let me how to best do this. Thanks. C.Holy Bear
Hi Charlene! You can share us however you like! We’re on Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc., and we’re just a bunch of Vans enthusiasts, mostly collectors of the more rare and limited stuff, but we also appreciate the unique and one-off custom stuff like your pairs. I appreciate you, and your work is amazing! Thanks for hitting us up, and hope to keep in touch. Peace! -Bill C.