Vans debuts “The Old Skool Ribbon,” a trio of Vans Old Skool sneakers adding a soft edge to the staple skate shoe.

As the name suggests, these are skate shoes finished with a ribbon. Each pair has the option of delicate ribbons as laces, the type you’d expect atop a gift. 

It’s a simple trick, really, but the end effect changes the vibe of this time-honored sneaker model drastically, softening a design built for kickflips through a cute final touch.

Alongside the unconventional laces, high-pile textured suede wraps the entire upper of the sneaker trio.

Colorways include light pink with a navy jazz stripe, light brown with pale-pink accents, and deep indigo with hot-pink contrast.

The girlification of sneakers is very real. The narrative around the traditionally masculine sneaker space is shifting, spearheaded by designers like METAGIRL who create hyper-feminine art objects from footwear and evidenced by searches for ballet sneakers going through the roof.

These ribbon-embellished sneakers, available now on Vans’ Japanese website for $70, feed into that shift. It's a skate shoe embracing its softer, feminine side.

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