While the Authentic is 10 years older and was adopted by skateboarders, Vans launched the Era in 1976 as the world’s first shoe tailored to skateboarding. Prompted now by its 50th anniversary, the low-top is getting a series of updates tailored toward the sport’s modern needs.
The Vans Skate Era WaffleCup largely maintains the shape of its source material while packing contemporary technology and construction with more hearty materials. The suffix in its name comes from the brands WaffleCup vulcanized cupsole, which caters to high impacts and is reinforced with PopCush foam and a grippy SickStick rubber outsole. Suede and nylon take on the Era‘s classic shape for the upper, but with DuraCap rubber layers underneath at high-wear areas and a more heavily padded collar.
Three colorways are ushering in the Skate Era WaffleCup’s debut: black and white, black and brown, and tonal blue, white and gum.
Alongside the more robustly updated shoe comes the Skate Era, which more subtly incorporates DuraCap and SickStick tech, as well as a PopCush insole, while staying true to the model’s original shape. One of the four colorways — red, blue and white — is also original from 1976 and features in the hands of Tony Alva for Vans’ campaign.
Alva and fellow Z-Boys skater Stacy Peralta worked with Vans to design the Era as they spearheaded the sports’ first craze. Vans had previously been making the Authentic as a deck shoe, as the sole’s design to grip the surfaces of boats proved just as useful on skateboards before grip tape was employed.
The Vans Skate Era WaffleCup and Skate Era are out now on Vans’ website. Pricing for the former is set at $75 and the latter $65.
Vans Skate Era WaffleCup in black and brown (pair).
Vans Skate Era WaffleCup in black and brown (lateral).
Vans Skate Era WaffleCup in black and brown (above).
Vans Skate Era WaffleCup in black and brown (outsole detail)
Vans Skate Era in red, blue and white (pair).
Vans Skate Era in red, blue and white (lateral).
Vans Skate Era in red, blue and white (above).
