crooked tongues magazine News Features

The companion piece for the Alomar, the Vans OTW Larkin is our personal favourite from the debut OTW collection. Having seen the next season's output, we've found more favourites, but let's stick with the present. That cap toe application, offered in dual textures on 3 of the 4 style here feels like another retort to costlier rivals, but it doesn't wander too far from the Vans formula to the point where heritage is abandoned - in fact this silhouette is laden with the brand's archives. Squinting at them, with that curved side stitch, they even have a spot of the Lampin in there too - but that could just be the sleep deprivation talking. We're increasingly drawn to cup soles, mainly because the entire planet seems to be teetering on a baked rubber base, too many of our favourite shoes are being downgraded to vulc, and because they get wrecked so damned quickly. The Larkin feels like a more resislient prospect for summer wear. Having said that, impending OTW designs like the Bedford and Frazier seem to have followed the instruction of the hippy in 'The Simpsons' - "Looks like somebody's living in the past... Contemporise man!" and made a better looking vulcanised shoe.

The perforated versions are personal favourites - the elephant grey version is the most premium in execution, from the suede tongue branding to the application on the collar and tonal midsole stitch, but those herringbone Larkins are decent too. Pricepoints are fair, and while it's not reinventing the wheel by any means, this is just a quality shoe, nicely executed, and with the OTW affiliate concept behind them, a very different, quieter take on the collaboration - a long way from the industry plague of blank-faced, tired collaborative footwear gangbangs. Yeah, we'll plug our Tom Cooke interview in the Features section again - it fleshes out the purpose behind the collection well, and these will be arriving in the Crooked Tongues store in July. If you're in the market for something you may actually wear to death, the Vans Alomar might fill a much-needed gap.