Some Things Just Work

by Andre Titcombe & Charlotte Graham-Moss

Photography: Andre Titcombe
Styling: Charlotte Graham-Moss
Hair & Make-up: Lou Stefani
Model: Jia Qi @ Elite Models

Some things just work. It’s a simple idea and usually reserved for those things that achieve simple perfection. With this editorial, stylist Charlotte Graham-Moss and photographer Andre Titcombe explore two brands that have managed to achieve the ‘timeless’ status — Vans and Dickies.

Conveniently, Vans are celebrating 50 years at the moment, a testament to their longevity both as a brand and as a product. Their offering is at it’s strongest when it’s at its simplest — think Era, Old Skool, Sk8 Hi. Turn a kind blind eye to those chunky skate offerings of the early 2000s. In more recent years, Vans have really focused on their core offerings, their design classics, and it’s a formula that seems to have no end in regards to success. Here we see some of their most iconic silhouettes get a luxurious woven leather make-over to celebrate the 50th birthday. A classy reinterpretation of that iconic checkerboard we all know.

Complimenting the shoes, Charlotte pulls for Dickies. Currently, you couldn’t get a more complimentary pairing from the skate world — two brands with solid roots in skate culture, who both started life outside of skateboarding before being adopted by skaters, both whom have stood the test of time. It’s a look that the cool kids have been replicating in recent years, minus the skateboards, and it’s for a good few reasons; it’s counter culture at its finest, repurposing clothing and footwear for their own means and wants, but it’s also two brands with heritage who aren’t try-hard, two brands who create simple perfected product that gives plenty of creative freedom for the wearer, as showcased here in the styling.

Some things just work.