There is a bad way to handle USPS collaborations, but Vans is taking the correct — or should I say paper — approach. Okay, that doesn't make much sense, but Vans' USPS collaboration is as intelligent as anything the footwear company has ever done, and it's officially licensed by America's Postal Service.
Vans' tribute to the USPS is a seamless merger of themed designs and iconic skate sneakers, similar to recent MOCA and Halloween collaborations.
Vans' shoes are truly the ideal canvas for collaboration partners; whether hosting basic motifs or taking on whole tonal shifts, its simple sneakers can communicate a lot.
The silhouettes here are home to a range of themed graphics, including the USPS's eagle emblem, Priority Mail text, and vintage U.S. Mail branding. The shoeboxes are also portrayed in packaging that is reminiscent of the Priority Mail package style.
Vans, like Telfar's White Castle collaboration, frames this line as an homage to the hardworking USPS employees who struggle through each tumultuous Christmas season, using the "Neither snow nor rain" mantra as inspiration.
This isn't Vetements x DHL (nothing costs more than $120), but it'd be good to see Vans take a more personal perspective and humanize the USPS's hard-pressed staff, possibly through a theme campaign or philanthropic focus.
Still, at least it went to the bother of licensing the USPS logo – take that, Nike.
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