Road Tested: Vans Akat LX x Taka Hayashi
Click images to enlarge.
When I saw these first announced last January I called the shoe possibly perfect – one that seemingly combined the ingredients of two of my favorite sneaker brands: Vans and Visvim. These Vans have no distinguishable traits that were picked up from other Vans. Unlike most Vans x designer collaborations, they appear to have started completely from scratch with this one and of course, they killed it. The super thin white sole has almost no tread and is very low profile. Where it lacks in overall cushion on the outside, they make up for it with a nice soft heel pad on the inside. And needless to say, you probably need to keep these out of the rain.
Anyways… enough stating the obvious. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.
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Vergs, 
Hmm and 2 others are discussing. 
Zach W 11:14 am on September 3, 2009 Permalink |
Quality wise, is the $130+ for vans worth it?
Robby Wells 12:01 pm on September 3, 2009 Permalink |
Oh yeah. Well worth the $130 price tag. Another brand could definitely get away charging far more. I paid $130 at HUF.
Zach W 8:08 pm on September 4, 2009 Permalink
hmmm… yeah i saw them on the huf online store but they only had that weird curry color and i don’t know if i could pull those off.
Zach W 11:13 pm on September 7, 2009 Permalink |
Yeah man i got a lil’too crazy this past trip to nyc, picked up LOTS of stuff on sale but nothing too wild. I did get this CRAZY Z Zegna windbreaker that retailed for $890 for $190. But right now i’m really trying to save up…remember i’m suppose to buy that Enzo in 5 years.
Kid 9:47 am on September 12, 2009 Permalink |
In Europe they go for 175 Euro up!!! Copped the “weird curry” ones at Caliroots in Stockholm. Didnt like the color at first but they age beautifully.
Robby Wells 4:29 pm on September 30, 2009 Permalink |
I noticed they are crazy expensive in Europe. Oki-Ni has them for well over $200US
Hmm 12:53 pm on October 22, 2009 Permalink |
Wondering if these are still available anywhere in NYC? Also how did you size on these (don’t have experience with Vans at all)? I’m a 10.5 in most nikes. 9.5 in chucks. Thanks!
Robby Wells 1:41 am on October 23, 2009 Permalink |
I haven’t seen them in NYC (where I live), but I bought mine online at HUFSF.com. Check there for sure. They seem to be normal sizes… I wear an 11, and these fit perfectly.
Vergs 12:15 pm on November 5, 2009 Permalink |
Just bought these the other day in the Bitter Chocolate colorway. Quite the beautiful shoe. Haven’t been excited for a pair of new shoes in a really long time. I wear 11.5 in Vans Authentic’s and Era’s, 10.5 in Chucks. Bought an 11.5 in these Akat’s. Fits like a glove. Hope this helps.
Robby Wells 1:28 pm on September 6, 2009 Permalink
Come on dude. You can pull off anything! Any recent purchases?