VANS x BRICE GELOT

This limited-edition collaboration with Vans is built on the iconic Sk8-Hi silhouette, chosen for its strong cultural ties to skate and street identity. The design is directly inspired by a photograph I captured in Mexico City, inside Tepito—a neighborhood often referred to as el barrio bravo. Known for its intensity, informal markets, and deep-rooted resilience, Tepito represents a raw and unapologetic expression of urban life. It is also widely recognized as the birthplace of the first public altar dedicated to Santa Muerte, a folk saint venerated as a protector by many who live and work on society’s edges.

Translating this environment onto the Sk8-Hi canvas, the materials, tones, and graphic details echo the atmosphere of the original photograph—layered, textured, and symbolic. Each pair includes a silver Santa Muerte pendant as a tribute to the neighborhood’s spiritual imagery, an NSD51/50 security tag referencing exclusivity and the coded visual language of Tepito’s street commerce, and a custom silver NSD51/50 pendant that transforms the shoe into both an artifact and a collectible.

More than a reinterpretation of a classic model, this collaboration documents a place, a belief system, and a visual culture shaped by survival, devotion, and creativity.