Nomatter where you go in the world, there is one sight you are sure to see - urban skater kids dressed in baggy pants, even baggier tops, beanie hats and their all-important footwear. Believe it or not, this ‘look’ has its origins in a small homegrown youth movement started in Southern California in the early 1970s.

It was then that the initial skate kids started to wear the ‘deck shoes’ that had been developed by a local company with a unique attitude to designing and selling sneakrs. That company was Vans.

The main reason that early skate gangs such as famous Z-Boys, started to wear the initial Vans models, such as the ‘Authentic”, was the soles of the shoes were very thick, making them resistant to the punishing treatment of skating. As well, the shoes were cheap and, amazingly, you could even customize them to your own taste. It was possible to ‘invent’ your own color combination shoes or, for just $1 extra, use your own material as the upper part of the shoe.

By 1976 the sight of skateboarding kids wearing their customized Vans was so common that they company decided to involve them in the design process of its new shoes. With the help of such Z-Boys as Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, padded collars and color combinations including blue/red and blue/blue, were specified and put into production.

The result was model 96, better known as the ERA - the first shoe specifically designed with skateboarding in mind and the first to use the now legencary ‘Off the Wall’ label on the rear of its heel. The Era has to enter Hall of Fame, not just because its a fine looking shoe but also because it was the initiator of a huge industry. The Era, with its padded collar and various color combinations, became the shoe of choice for an entire generation of skateboarders.