In 1990, a painting by Vincent Van Gogh—”Portrait of Dr. Gachet“—sold at Christie’s for $82.5 million; in November of last year, bidders almost beat that record, when the Dutch artist’s “Laboureur dans un champ” went for $81.3 million. As one of the most influential painters of all time, his work has inspired many to track down his pieces in museum galleries, to pin posters of his masterpieces on their walls, and to even create fashion collections that allow anyone who wants to wear a bit of Van Gogh to do so.
That’s partly the inspiration behind the collaboration between global footwear brand Vans and the Van Gogh Museum. “It’s our mission to make Van Gogh as accessible to people all over the world as we possibly can,” Axel Ruger, the museum’s director, tells Glamour in Amsterdam. “People from all over the world really love Van Gogh and want a piece of him, as it were. We’re always looking to find new ways [to] make his work [feel] relevant today.” The Museum has undertaken a handful of design partnerships in the past (most recently, one with the luggage company Samsonite), and this one feels like its most widely accessible: 16 pieces, ranging from footwear to apparel, priced between $40 and $140.
Vans x Van Gogh Museum is centered around four specific pieces from the artist’s canon—Skull, Sunflowers, Almond Blossom, Self-Portrait as a Painter, Old Vineyard with Peasant Woman—as well as letters he wrote his brother, Theo. All of these “are windows into certain moments of his life,” says Diandre Fuentes, from Vans’ Global Footwear Design team. “I think, if you look at the collection as a whole, we really tried to translate what we’ve learned from working with the museum to the consumer. For example, we didn’t use Starry Night because it’s the first piece you learn about [by] Van Gogh—we really tried, from the skull to the vineyard, to track the trajectory of his growth as an artist and educate the consumer on that. That’s what sets this collection apart, and making sure we stay true to the paintings in terms of quality, which was really the biggest challenge that we’ve had to overcome.”
According to Faye Fredericks, from Vans’ Global Apparel Design team, the goal was to represent Van Gogh’s legacy through both his well-known masterpieces as well as some of his more personal and perhaps obscure work, such as the self-portraits and letters. “If you even look at the labels, we put brushstrokes on those—we really wanted to represent a masterpiece, so we paid attention to every little detail, and we were really critical about it,” she says. “I don’t think anybody expected [the collaboration]. We always make sure to put our DNA in everything, but I think everybody was really surprised by this.”
The connection between the two isn’t all that random, when you consider that the average age of visitors to the Van Gogh Museum is around 34, according to Ruger, and that Vans has a history of collaborating with artists. Plus, both are iconic brands with a global reach. “The translation of his art into a modern form of expression—sneakers are so much of our culture right now—[it] makes me really happy that we can make that connection,” he adds. Plus, the partnership, which will be sold online at Vans and at the Van Gogh Museum’s gift shop, will help keep the artist’s legacy thriving: The museum will be donating all profits from the collaboration to preserving his collection.
Ahead, see every single piece from the Vans x Van Gogh Museum collaboration, and add a literal piece of art to your wardrobe.
Vans paid for the author’s travel and accommodations for the purpose of writing this story.
