The magic is at your feet. Vans x Ernest.

Cardboard Chaos…as a wearable?

The die-hard Ernest and Signal Snowboard fans are no strangers to our impossible cardboard creations (Should we link out to Cardboard Chaos on Ernest+?). Over the past decade or so, we’ve created the most amazing things out of nothing but paper, poly and pure imagination. We can’t list them all, but a few Cardboard Chaos highlights include the skateboard ridden by none other than Tony Hawk, the Fender Stratocaster guitar, an entire drum kit in collaboration with Masters of Maple and even a Wurlitzer keyboard. But a cardboard shoe? No way, right? Wrong. And it all started with a phone call to another creative SoCal mind: Steve Van Doren, the unofficial Ambassador of Fun at Vans®.

 From Commerce, CA to Hanoi, Vietnam

With a blessing from Steve, son of Vans founder Paul Van Doren, everything was ready to kick the project into motion. Which meant starting with the raw materials (and ingenuity) at the Innovation Lab at Ernest. Turns out, this eminently recyclable cardboard material is no slouch when it comes to both stretch and toughness. And because the entire idea was Off the Wall from the onset, the upper pattern came down to the only logical checkerboard choice. So with this roll of paper masquerading as canvas in tow, it was time for Steve, Dave Lee from Signal and some VERY special guests to head off to LAX. Their destination? None other than the Vans factory, three hours outside of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Will they survive THE VULCANIZER?

A special project. A special locale. And oh yeah, those special guests we mentioned before. For this trip to the other side of the world, skate legends Christian Hosoi and Tony Alva came along for the ride. The entire crew was greeted like royalty and Vans arranged a banquet so everyone could join in the fun of celebrating a never-before-seen shoe and a never-to-be-replicated event. But after the festivities, there was work to be done. Cutting out the fabric. Gluing the sole. Applying the Off the Wall logo. And then? The true test. The vulcanizer. The paper Vans were subjected to 275° heat and 20 pounds of pressure per square inch to properly cure the rubber. And yes, they not only survived. They were eminently skateable.

The U.S. shred test.

We forget to mention Omar Hassan, the 25-plus year Vans rider who was first up to shred his pool in the paper sneaks when he got back stateside. He (and the cardboard Vans) did not disappoint. Nor did the legendary Christion who treated viewers signature big air in the Vans pool in Anaheim. Then the OG himself, Tony Alva, gave his stamp of approval after a session at his local skate spot by stating simply, “They work. I call that working.” To go from concept (a paper shoe?) to question (will that work?) to construction (will that burst into flames?) to completion (that’s an actual Vans shoe) was a most amazing journey. There was something so skaterly—so punk rock—about throwing all the rules out the window and putting all our your faith in the creative, collaborative process to succeed.

Welcome to the Cardboard Chaos family.

One of the greatest rewards from the Cardboard Chaos series is when people come together to tackle a seemingly impossible challenge and share it with their family and friends. As the grandest of finales, Tim Wilson was able to present his dad, Charles, with his own pair of cardboard Vans and explain a bit about the company, which is in many ways similar to Ernest. It opened in 1966 with two brothers who sold their Off the Wall sneakers out of a small shop in Anaheim, and grew to be the international icon it is today. On hearing the history of the seminal skate shoe, Charles replied, “Family companies can do well when they treat their people like part of the family.” We couldn’t agree more. Which is why this blog goes out to all the hardworking family businesses out there who continue to put their heads together to solve problems, treat one another with respect and dignity, and always remember there’s no such thing as no can do.

Dedicated to the loving memory of Paul Van Doren.