UF artists to compete in Vans Live Shoe Design Competition
Vans all day
With their first shoes released in 1966, Vans have been a fashion staple for exactly 50 years now. From the classic slip-on to one of the more recent collaborations with Nintendo, Vans shoes really are “off the wall” in their ability to stand out in a crowd.
What’s even cooler about Vans is that they support creative development and self-expression, especially within millennials. This Saturday, Oct. 22, various student artists from The University of Florida will showcase their own creative vision at Vans’ Live Shoe Design Competition.
The event will be held from 1pm-6pm at the new Vans store in The Oaks Mall, located at 6287 W. Newberry Road, and will allow 50 student artists to transform a blank, classic Vans shoe into whatever they see fit. The students will be split up into five groups of 10 and compete within that group each hour.
One winner from each group will receive a $50 Vans gift card and one overall winner will receive a $100 gift card. Winners are decided by crowd voting, with the first 10 voters each hour receiving a gift complimentary of Vans. There will be food and drinks served throughout the entirety of the event.
Grant Echols, a senior at UF and brand ambassador for Vans, has been coordinating this event for over a month now. He’s one of five brand ambassadors at UF, and they each had the responsibility of recruiting 10 artists with a unique style to face off in the competition. For Echols, up-and-coming artists were the ones he looked for.
Photo courtesy of Grant Echols
“I looked mostly for artists who had really established a presence at this school,” he said. “Also, artists who matched the Vans style.”
Although Echols’ time as a brand ambassador will end after the Live Shoe Design Competition, he’ll still be representing Vans every day.
“I’ve been wearing [Vans] for as long as I can remember,” Echols said. “They have always been my go-to everyday shoes and in part what I wear to differentiate myself from others.”