We never really imagined this day coming, but as we all know all good things must come to an end at some time or another. As so, is our beloved Vans Syndicate brand, and they’ve created a special event to celebrate the ten years of Vans Syndicate, an exhibition being put on at the Known Gallery on Fairfax. Word is, that the complete Vans Syndicate catalog will be on display, from series 001-030. We’ve been cordially invited to pass this invite on to all of our fellow Vans fanatics, collectors, enthusiasts, and friends, to share in this joyous occasion. Syndicate is going out with a bang, and we hope to see each and every one of our core group members at this event, representing and sending the “S” off in style.
(I just want to mention that without Vans Syndicate, there is no way that our Vans sneaker community would have grown to the size that it is today. From the early days, Syndicates were introduced to the same core skate shops where Nike SB was being sold, which we can agree launched the whole sneaker collecting culture into what it has become today. Right out of the gate, Syndicate was introducing us to collaborations with artists and brands some of us have never heard of, but knew were special just purely on their level of quality. Sturdy drawer boxes, dust bags, briefing envelopes explaining the design and story, and random accessories were all standard issue. Sneakerheads were aware, even if they weren’t brave enough to step outside of that “narrow path” just yet.
We also need to give credit to those skate shops that really embraced Vans Syndicate, and truly understood the value and importance of it. I can’t think of any other shop, than our good friend Brant Van Boening’s Silo, who have dedicated a lot of time and energy into making sure every single Vans Syndicate release got it’s proper shine in the spotlight. He sought out our Vans collector community when we were still quite small, and didn’t represent much buying power to skate shops, and he made sure that we would always be taken care of, and that we would understand fully, each Syndicate release. There’s your real advocate. It’s insane and quite insulting to still see that he hasn’t had his very own Vans Syndicate collaboration. Stop fucking around Vans and give this guy what he deserves! He’ll never ask for it, himself).
*Stepping off soap box now*
