The Sound of Wheels: OTW by Vans

Just as the nearly century-old Sacré-Cœur acts as a pilgrimage site for tourists and religious devotees day in and day out, skating spots, too, attract followers from far and wide. Whether commuting from skating-averse suburbs, small towns, or greater distances, skaters have long congregated around storied bowls, parks, and even municipal plats both to skate but also to experience an irreducible aura. Swap the liturgical prayers and wafting incense for the sounds of wheels slapping concrete and the hiss of a power slide, and skating rituals, too, have a sensorial dimension. It would not be remiss to say that, just as a church comes alive with its worshippers and enlivens them in turn, skateparks and skaters, too, exist for one another—strengthening each of their spirits with each nose stall and drop in.

OTW by Vans is well aware that skateboarding would not exist solely with a board, nor a skater, nor a park, nor a shoe. Launched last year during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, OTW positions skateboarding as a culture above all. Reinvigorating old Vans silhouettes through collaborations with today’s leaders in the sport, design, music, and the arts, OTW often activates their at-once historical and future-oriented shoes through in-person experiences. Last month, during Paris Men’s Fashion Week and amid the Paris-wide Fête de la Musique, they hosted a series of events including a skate jam at the Place de Bastille and an exhibition highlighting over 200 iconic photographs by brand curator Atiba Jefferson.

The festivities culminated in the “Checkered Future” skate session and rave. There, on the same Montmartre butte as the Sacré-Cœur, OTW erected a stone skatepark in collaboration with California Skateparks and Playlab, Inc. Following a skate session featuring the brand’s international stars, musicians and DJs Kaytranada, Venus X, Busy P, Tatyana Jane, and JUSTICE took the stage on a checkered podium—the electro hymns, much like the initial advertisement wherein a stonemason carved the events details into a solid block of stone, etching the sport into cultural history.

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