The Z-Boys skateboarding team has already been mentioned a couple of times here, but they’re worth repeated acknowledgement as far as the skateboard culture is concerned. While this Californian group has collectively defined the pavement-surfing activity as we now know it, today we will focus on a particular Z-Boy that was well woven into the fabric of Vans’ footwear evolution.
Honoured as one of the greatest pioneering skateboarders the world has yet seen, Tony Alva is one of the reasons the Z-Boy and Vans legacies are somewhat intertwined. A surfer and skateboarder since the tender age of 11 way back in 1968, Tony’s style in grinding wheels to pavement was bold and aggressive, and that style influenced Vans to make shoes embedded in skater-driven design and built for progression. His free form surf style is largely, if not entirely, derived from the then new surfing form gaining prominence in the Hawaiian Islands.
The original Mid Skool ’79 was Tony’s signature shoe and was yet another innovative skateboarder-oriented pair that beckoned the influx of mid-top shoes in the following years.
The reinvented Mid Skool Pro ’79 carries the same ethos Tony brought to skateboarding. Maintaining the same blue & white aesthetic as its original counterpart, the Pro ’79 features a premium suede and canvas upper with a lightly padded collar and tongue, and the Vans original waffle outsole with reinforced abrasion areas for further cushioning and support.
If roleplaying as the legend himself is something you want to get into, then be sure to get yourself a pair of this reinvented classic!
