These sneakers were made for driving

Pair of promotional vans for the shoe company Van’s on Washington Street

These sneakers were made for driving, if you can believe this scene on Washington Street in the Meat Packing District of the West Village. Carefully modeled to mimic one of Van’s actual sneaker lines, this pair of mobile shoes are promotional vehicles that made a recent stop here in front of their Van’s shoe store. I have a similar pair for winter, with Gore-tex insulation, and they are great! (I was not paid to say that.) Special foam-backed panels are carried along to pop into place over the windows and doors of the vans when parked for displays, which you can see if you look closely for the seams (my goodness, there are puns all over the place here!). Only the sideview mirrors still stick out. There were fun pop-up events briefly that chilly winter Saturday morning, but they soon ran off to their next venue in Brooklyn. The scene changes quickly.

Text and photo by Brian J Pape, AIA