Andrew Rizzo Anyone familiar with Palace product descriptions knows the brand isn’t shy about cracking jokes, fitting the mold of a skate imprint by never taking itself too seriously. That spirit carries over to the brand’s latest collaboration with Vans, delivering a limited-edition model called the Vans Low 2 by way of a sarcastic ad spot that anoints it the best skate shoe of the year.
Palace has been in our headlines recently via its work with Nike, teaming up with the Swoosh on Air Max DN8 and Total 90 SP collections and opening a sprawling soccer/skateboarding space in London. But the Palace x Vans partnership remains very much intact, set to celebrate its five-year anniversary later this summer.
The Vans Low 2 is a successor to the original Vans Low from 2023, also co-created by Palace and Vans. To put it simply, the Vans Low 2 reads like a skater’s skate shoe. The sneaker is built on Vans’ most advanced vulcanized platform, equipped with PopCush insoles, DuraCap underlays, and SickStick rubber outsoles. The result is an elite cocktail of impact protection, durability, and grip, so good Palace and Vans have taken it upon themselves to anoint it the best skate shoe of the year in an ad spot featuring Danny Brady and Rory Milanes, both sponsored by Palace and Vans.
Visually, minimal and modern are the two words that come to mind. A series of curved overlays wrap the exterior, while an inner sock-like bootie ensures a secure, comfortable fit. Dragon motifs, potentially inspired by Steve Caballero’s dragon decks, appear on the tongue and sides, while Palace’s triangle logo forms the eyestays.
Three colorways of the Vans Low 2 launch February 27th: White, Black/Gum, and Yellow/Black. The sneaker will be available exclusively via palaceskateboards.com and Palace Skateboards stores.
