Vans, the original action sports footwear and apparel brand, is proud to honour the legacy of T&C Surf with a new head-to-toe collection celebrating the Hawaii-based brand’s 50-year heritage. Founded in 1971 by Craig Sugihara, T&C Surf has evolved into a worldwide icon fuelled by an unrestrained passion for surfing and making quality surfboards. The new collection of footwear and apparel takes cues from T&C Surf’s widely recognisable design elements and the timeless styles from both brands’ archives.
T&C’s humble roots are grounded in preserving the grom-like stoke for surfing and cultivating balance in all they create, reflected in their storied history on the North Shore. The Vans x T&C collection leads with the Skate Sk8-Hi 138 Decon SF, a colourful offering with an all-over gradient Checkerboard overlaid with Vans Sidestripe detailing and a black and white Checkerboard side wall. The shoe is finished with T&C Surf Hawaii embroidered on the heel counter, a custom T&C Surf Designs patch on the upper with their signature yin yang logo, and a creative representation of the yin yang design on the outsole split between the right and left shoe.
For footwear, other key styles include the Authentic SF in the same colorful gradient Checkerboard and T&C detailing. The Vans x T&C UltraRange EXO in black and white Checkerboard is a nod to both brands’ commitment to surfing’s progression through design innovation, and features subtle bright color pops along the heelcounter, hangflag, tongue, and insole, as well as a T&C custom yin yang patch. The UltraRange Tri-Lock and La Costa Lite are offered in a black and blue colorway with the yin yang patch and subtle Checkerboard hits on the internal straps.
The lineup continues with an apparel range that includes a Vans x T&C fleece pull over in black, a long sleeve tee in white and short sleeve tees in black and azalea pink, all featuring iterations of T&C Surf’s signature logo on the chest and back in bright Checkerboard gradients. The Vans x T&C boardshort in black features four-way stretch, bright pops of neon pink, tonal black and black-and-white Checkerboard detailing embedded with yin yangs and finished with T&C and Vans logo patches. The collection is rounded out with a Vans x T&C Mini Ward cross body bag in gradient Checkerboard with exterior zipper, adjustable strap, and a T&C yin yang logo patch.
Craig Sugihara’s love affair with the ocean and surfing started long before entering the surf business. With a driving interest in the anatomy of the surfboard and its impact on performance, Craig spent time in his formative years watching surf shaping and glassing by the likes of Joe Kuala and Ben Aipa, and eventually landed a job glassing boards for Greg Noll Surfboards. Craig opened his first surf shop in Pearl City during the early ‘70s with limited capital and limitless stoke. The name Town & Country reflected the shop’s strategic location between the two epicenters of surf on Oahu, while the logo—a yin yang symbol—was developed with a deeper meaning behind the simplest principle in surfing: Balance. This balance has defined the evolution of T&C Surf over its 50-year history. Vans is proud to partner with T&C to bring this commemorative collection to life.
The Vans x T&C Collection is now available at Vans retail locations and Vans.eu/Surf
