Gallery Dept. Quietly Scored Its First Proper Sneaker Collab

First Gallery Dept. was shutting down, then founder Josué Thomas was opening a resort, of sorts, then Gallery Dept. was actually not closing and was actually opening a new store in Miami. Which is it?!?!

Well, the only certainty is that Gallery Dept. is going nowhere, because it’s finally getting its first sneaker collaboration thanks to Vans.

Perhaps I should say first in-line sneaker collaboration: the Lanvin shoes were fine and all, but they were part of a bigger collection. Gallery Dept.’s Vans shoes are all its own.

There’s not much to say about Gallery Dept.’s collaborative Vans Old Skool, though, besides what’s already apparent in the imagery.

First published on Instagram by Thomas himself, the shoes slightly tweak the Old Skool’s inherent details, color-blocking the toecaps, fuzzing the Jazz Stripe, and stitching Gallery Dept.’s “ART THAT KILLS” mantra on the heels.

Newspaper-like print on the uppers, branded laces and midsoles, and a pre-distressed finish makes for a terribly busy pair of shoes but what else would you expect? It’s Gallery Dept. through and through.

If anything’s missing, it’s paint splatters, though knowing Gallery Dept., there’s probably another pair in the works that’s got paint to spare.

Now, given that there’s no official confirmation that the shoes are even a collaboration, they could be mere DIYs cooked up by Thomas himself.

However, Thomas reposted Highsnobiety’s Instagram post about the sneakers, so pretty likely that there’s something more going on here. Expect more information to come by Summer 2023 or, really, whenever Thomas feels like it. The only schedule Gallery Dept. keeps to is its own.