Smiling flowers for your feet: A first look at the Vans X Takashi Murakami collaboration

The drop date for the limited-edition Vault by Vans collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami isn’t until the end of the month, but today the Cypress-based action sports brand unveiled the colorful collection of shoes, apparel and skate decks which, in our opinion, might just include the feel-good footwear of the year.

Two of the artist’s recurring motifs – smiling flowers and skulls – adorn the canvas uppers of six adult-size unisex versions of Vans’ signature slip-on skate shoe (according to today’s announcement it’s the style Murakami wears in his studio on a daily basis) with an MSRP of $75 a pair.

Three styles feature the all-over skull print in dark blue, yellow or in a simple gold outline against a white background. Another three feature the smiling field of flowers in a silver-on-white outline, dark blue and multi-colored version that will almost certainly have you kicking up your heels. The footbed of each slip-on features the collaboration’s logo: Murakami’s dog Pom sitting atop a Vans skateboard. The footwear collection also includes three toddler-sized shoes as well ($40).

The collection also includes three Takashi takes on the graphic tee – an allover flower print, an allover skull print and one depicting a cartoon version of the artist himself against a blue background ($78). Those same graphics also appear on the underside of skate decks in the collection with the Pom-on-a-skateboard logo popping up on the topside of each deck ($80).

The Vault by Vans x Takashi Murakami collection is scheduled to hit retail on June 27 and local stockists include Barneys New York in Beverly Hills, Opening Ceremony in West Hollywood and multiple local Blends boutiques and Undefeated sneaker shops. Additional details, including a complete list of retailers, are available at vans.com/murakami.

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