OTW by Vans and American artist Sterling Ruby’s S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA. revealed their much-anticipated first collaboration last night (27 February), on the eve of the opening of Frieze LA 2024. It was celebrated with an open-air lot party, pop-up skate installation, and performance in downtown Los Angeles with guest artists Paris Texas and Salem.
Ruby, himself a former pro-skater, has been wearing Vans for four decades. The collaboration manifests as a new skate shoe titled ‘Clash the Wall’, a mash-up of four Vans icons: the Old Skool 36, the Authentic, the Mid-Skool 77, and the Sk8-Hi. Its two acid colourways – luminous orange and vibrant green – feel reminiscent of Ruby’s often unnerving use of colour in his works, which span sculpture, textiles, drawing, collage, ceramics, painting, and video. The 2019-founded S.R. STUDIO. LA. CA is the arm of his studio which creates clothing collections (the designer also memorably collaborated with Raf Simons on a co-branded A/W 2014 collection for Simons’ eponymous label).
