END. x NOMA T.D. x Vans SK8 Mid
Vans was a brand that I wore a lot of growing up. Between Emerica, Vans, & Nike SB, these were my go to brands I wore in my teen years while skating. When I was reached to for this project I was stoked to see End partnering up with Vans on some of my favorite models.
Materials: the entire upper of this design has a nutmeg color canvas that has a durable feel to touch. Imo, based on the canvas upper, these will age really well & I personally feel like they'll create a nice subtle fading/aged look overtime. I really enjoy the floral pattern that is used on the medial & lateral sides of the sneaker. This specific pair has a white & navy floral design with noma td on both sides. Another nice detail was the choice of embroidered eyelets, rather than the metal pieces. The last detail I wanted to mention was on the sock liner. They went with a really soft & premium feeling cream-ish color liner that feels very nice on foot & really finishes off the premium aesthetic to this Collab. Overall, I feel like the crew over at END & Noma put together a really nice product.
Comfort/Sizing: in terms of comfort, vans have a very flat to the ground feel, but with the addition of ComfyCush, it creates a very plush feeling on the bottom of your feet & makes it much easier to wear for extended periods of time without any discomfort. In terms of sizing, I would recommend going up a half in these. I typically go tts in the sk8 mid, but it usually irritates my pinky toe bc of the panels rubbing against it. However, half up in these fit pretty well without that pain & discomfort.
Overall Opinion: I feel like this design was executed pretty well & I really enjoy how they tied in the Noma TD floral pattern into the overall design. Imo, the canvas will age really nicely & I'm looking forward to adding these into the rotation. I feel like Vans is one of those timeless sneakers that everyone has at least 1 pair of in their collection. . Thank you to the crew over at End for looking out for me & as I post this, there are some assorted sizes of all 3 models leftover from the release on their site.