Vans has been woven into everyday style for nearly six decades. Founded in 1966 in Anaheim, California, Vans quickly became synonymous with the Southern California skateboarding scene. Since the brand’s start, the label has built its reputation on a handful of simple silhouettes. The Authentic, the Old Skool, the Sk8-Hi have transcended skate parks to street corners without ever really changing shape. Part of the reason they've lasted is the simplicity: flat canvas, a rubber sole, and nothing more. That same simplicity is what makes them so easy to dress up.
That is where Vans' LX line comes in. It takes silhouettes you already know and reworks them with textures and treatments you wouldn't normally associate with a skate shoe, from woven checkers to hair-on uppers to all-over prints. The result still pairs with jeans on a grocery run, but it reads as a deliberate choice rather than a default. The selection we've gathered on Complex spans both ends of that range.
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Vans LX Old Skool 36 Paisley Woven Green
Price: $120
How To Buy: Shop Vans → Vans LX Old Skool 36 Paisley Woven Green on Complex
The LX line sits at the top of Vans' design tier, and this take on the Old Skool 36 earns that placement with woven checker canvas in two shades of green, each panel carrying a bandana-inspired paisley print. Green leather at the toe and heel plus white suede jazz stripes finish it off, all on the vulcanized sole and waffle outsole Vans built its name on. There's a Woven Black version too if green isn't your thing.
Vans LX Authentic 44 Ibiza Port/Multi
Price: $110
How To Buy: Shop Vans → Vans LX Authentic 44 Ibiza Port/Multi on Complex
Fuzzy multicolor mohair covers most of the upper, broken up by a wine red suede toe panel and a run of metal spikes and crystals along the front. The white midsole arrives pre-dirtied, so these read broken in from day one instead of box fresh.
Vans LX Authentic 44 Animal Pony Hair Cow- Marshmallow
Price: $110
How To Buy: Shop Vans → Vans LX Authentic 44 Animal Pony Hair Cow- Marshmallow on Complex
Cow print covers the entire lightweight canvas upper, which is a lot of pattern for a silhouette as plain as the classic low-top Authentic, and that contrast is the whole point. The finishing touches keep it grounded: a red Vans license plate logo on the back of the Marshmallow vulcanized midsole, a small hang tab at the eyelets, and a gum waffle outsole for traction. If you've been wanting animal print that still wears like a basic, this is the one.
Vans LX Authentic 44 Combat Camo
Price: $105
How To Buy: Shop Vans → Vans LX Authentic 44 Combat Camo on Complex
Vans lists this same shoe under its own Premium Authentic name in a Woodland Camo Green colorway, and the LX build takes that base up a tier with premium camo canvas, plus metal pyramid studs and gemstones set across the toe panel. Camo on a low-top this plain stays easy to wear, which is more than most patterned Authentics can say.
Vans LX Authentic 44 Beaded Champagne
Price: $100
How To Buy: Shop Vans → Vans LX Authentic 44 Beaded Champagne on Complex
Sequins cover the canvas upper here, with suede on the tongue and trim and a clean white midsole holding it all together, which makes this the pair in the LX run built for a night out rather than a skate session.
Vans LX Authentic 44 Stars - Black
Price: $90
How To Buy: Shop Vans → Vans LX Authentic 44 Stars - Black on Complex
The all-over star print here comes with a faded finish, so the graphic reads like it's already lived through a summer rather than something fresh off the press, and against the black canvas the contrast still lands. Everything under it is standard Authentic business: the low profile, the vulcanized sole, the waffle grip.
