1984 saw the introduction of the Nike Vandal into its roster. Fitting in seamlessly in just after the intro of the Air Force 1 and before the Dunk, the Vandal was a cheaper canvas alternative and really fit into the aesthetic of the time where shell suits, leg warmers and B-Boys were rife.
The Vandal would slide straight into popular culture filling a gap which wasn’t yet taken.
Its incubation was firstly in canvas options in familiar collegiate colours, where the swoosh would take on contrasting coloration and the strap would be used as an accent hue, generally matching the swoosh. We were then treated to an updated version what we would describe as the ‘parachute nylon’, giving it an almost futuristic feel. It looked as though it had just been taken off a NASA jumpsuit. The tones on the strap gave them a patriotic feel and the base colours (silver blue/red, red silver/white and black/white) added to the bright, boldness of the 80s.
Then we saw the world of cinema take on the shoe where it got the ultimate exposure. Did Nike seed product to people at the studios? A free marketing strategy, with fingers crossed that they might end up on the silver screen or pay for the shoes to feature, or was it just organic? I guess we will never know but their hopes were realised across many movies in the 80s referencing to the Vandal specifically.
Its most iconic moment you could say came in the Terminator 1 film. Kyle Reece breaks into a supermarket and is frantically dressing himself in whatever he can get his hands on, and low and behold, he grabs a pair of the Black/Silver straight out of the bargain bucket. Fully dressed in cargos and long mac, we’d see this look hit the streets of London when the shoe finally got a retro release (which we touch upon later).
For all you eagle eyed film and sneaker buffs, we would see another colour way featured in ‘Back to the Future, when Doc Brown gets out of the DeLorean wearing a pair of Orange and White Vandals. Donning nothing else but a white hazmat suit, the shoes were so fitting and felt like they were made for that specific moment, as if he’d just come back from the future.
The shoe would go through the 80s getting various canvas treatments, but its simplicity was challenged by other ‘higher tier’ models such as the Dunk, innovation models like the Safari, and some shoe called the Air Max 1! The model would be rested and not seen again.
So, lets fast forward to the year 2002. We hadn’t seen the silhouette for close to 20 years, aside from a few battered-up musty pairs in Tokyo thrift shops and featuring in re-runs of 80s cult classic films.
In the 2000s, we saw the street style of London harking back to fashion of the 80s, inspired by the streets of Tokyo. Nike wind breakers were back, teamed up with Evisu and LVC Jeans, Duffer of St George zip-tops and bright BAPE branded tops. People were wearing long raincoats, and hi-tops like the Blazer were dominating the shelves in stores.
The internet was in its infancy, so the information stream was slow, but forums like ‘Crooked Tongues were reporting a ‘special’ retro was on the cards. Then bang, one morning a delivery arrived at Offspring stores and there’s three colours of the Vandal hi-top. The Silver version stood out amongst the others, and the Black and Blue pairs got unboxed after.
The excitement was unreal and before you knew it, the streets of London were filled with people in these Silver nylon shoes. In hindsight, as very few people had ever seen the originals in the flesh, the material wasn’t really what made the shoe famous when it first hit the shelves.
The ‘parachute’ material was swapped to nylon on all three colours and was missing the supportive rand above the midsole. However, this this didn’t really deter people, and the colours that followed did just as well as the previous releases. At the time, the Vandal sat nicely alongside the Dunk, when the Air Force 1 was also at its pomp.
Nike worked on a lot of ‘story packs’ and used the Vandal as a vehicle to drive heat in various ways. We would see Canadian artist, Jeff Mcfetridge put his hand to two colourways. The concept was new at the time, whereby you could rip the pinstripe upper away to reveal Jeff’s artwork.
Nike followed with inline packs and iterations such as the ‘Haight Street Pack’, the ‘Jim Morrisons’ complete with a studded collar, and even the ‘Grunge Pack’ – consisting of other silhouettes but having a Vandal in there.
Then Nike took it back to the 80s with some solid canvas options. They even did regional exclusives with Japan getting the OG Purple option and North America getting the Green/Gold.
However, the one that stood out the most was the ‘Hyper-Strike’ drop. Apartment – a store in Berlin, released a rumoured 24 pairs to F&F in a striking Black and Pink colour. With Berlin stitched in the heel and a skyline print on the side wall, sneakerheads were sent into a frenzy in anticipation. Unfortunately, the shoe never released in any achievable numbers, and now takes its place firmly in the Hall of Fame with grail status.
There were packs inbetween like the ‘Heavy Metal’ pack which also consisted of a Dunk, but interest was wavering with other heat coming through, the model would slow, and people moved on.
We had a rest period for a few years but then in 2015 we saw ‘Terminator Genisys’ hit the cinemas. In a scene which clearly references the past, we get transported back to the moment Kyle Reese put on a pair of the OG Black and Silver. Nike were apparently approached by the producers to create a run of the shoes which they accepted. Wonder what happened to those pairs of the movie set?
Designer John Elliot would take on the silhouette, putting on a ‘premium’ spin on the Vandal. Elevating it from the traditional materials, he added premium suede on the upper and swoosh, in tonal greys and whites which fitted into his clean aesthetic. They came with a premium price but seemed to check out well.
2019 celebrated 35 years of the Back to the Future film and in true fashion, the ‘Doc Brown’ Orange vandal returned.
We find ourselves in 2023 with the Stussy release imminent. The guys over at the Cali-based brand have decided to stoke up nostalgia once again with 3 iterations of our favourite silhouette.
With what’s become their signature colour in a Cream canvas, a Black/Silver option which must be in homage to the OG colour, and a Navy/Black option – launching with us on the 15th June. The quality on these remains supreme and it seems as though there’s been some upgrades. The canvas is much softer and more padded, we are treated to an exposed padded foam tongue with woven logo, and the iconic ankle strap has a stitched inscription on it. The most notable change is to the swoosh, which has been replaced with a stitched version etched directly onto the canvas.
It’s fair to say that the Vandal has been a mainstay ever since its retro back in the early 2000s to now. Whether you remember it from 80s films, to the special packs that graced the 2000s or the collaborations it’s been placed on since, its simplistic design has stood the test of time. Hopefully this is just the start of its next chapter.
