After teaming up with legendary workwear label CARHARTT WIP last year (article available HERE), French brand L’ART DE L’AUTOMOBILE unveils a new collaboration rooted in street culture. It’s associated for the 2nd time with the Californian imprint Vault by VANS. This time, Arthur KAR and his team have revisited the iconic Old Skool silhouette.
The Parisian high-end car dealer wanted to transpose his passion for cars onto this iconic sneaker. This new opus pays particular tribute to the drag racing culture, one of Arthur KAR’s father passions, in which the founder of L’Art de L’Automobile grew up and later shared.
The Old Skool gets the KAR treatment and comes in 3 bold colorways : green, yellow and red. All exclusive versions feature details inspired by drag car design, such as the famous white Vans side Sidestripe that looks like a muffler and the top of the toe box adorned with a regular « vent » pattern. To complete the inspiration, the waffle outsole features the colorful « Gas » and « Brake » inscriptions under the foot.
These shoes appear in 2 shades of the titular color. The darker shade being applied to the toe box and heel. The eyelets are bleached, as is the inner lining and sole. The « L’ART » embroidery badge under the ankle affirms the look and collab.
These special Old Skools will be accompanied by a matching apparel collection by L’Art de L’Automobile. It includes 90’s inspired streetwear pieces : fleece suit pants, shorts, sweatshirts, hoodies, t-shirts, caps and socks.
The Vault by Vans x L’Art de L’Automobile « Exhaust Pack » was released on February 18, 2022 at the L’Art de L’Automobile Pop-Up located at 16 Rue des Filles du Calvaire, Paris 3rd, as well as at the Parisian store The Broken Arm and at Dover Street Market in London. The shoes are already sold out on the brand’s website lartdelautomobilekar.com, some pairs are still available at other partners. Don’t sleep ! The red and yellow colorways will be launched on February 19, 2022 in selected locations worldwide.
