Vans presents the Premium Old Skool 36 Diva with Metagirl, led by Italian designer and artist Caterina Mongillo. The release takes the Old Skool 36 and gives it a maximal treatment through snakeskin detail, studs, rhinestones, frayed canvas, and gold hardware. Instead of treating the sneaker as a clean skate classic, the collaboration turns it into an accessorized object built around texture, shine, and exaggerated femininity.
SNEAKERS
The shoe works from a familiar Vans base. Canvas forms the upper, while snakeskin detail interrupts the surface and gives the low-top silhouette a more dressed quality. Studs appear in the foxing tape around the vamp, placing hardware directly into the rubber construction. The white Sidestripe keeps its place on the side of the shoe, yet its frayed finish gives the design a rawer edge next to the polished metallic details.
Mongillo uses the Diva idea as the core reference for the release. Through Metagirl, she treats femininity as something excessive and defiant. Her research for the shoe draws from online marketplaces, discontinued 2010s brands, and vintage belt-buckle 18k-gold-rings. Those references come through most clearly in the buckle, the gemstone effect, and the mix of skate shape with jewelry-like surface details.
The vamp carries the strongest design gesture. A diagonal snakeskin strap cuts over the front of the shoe, covered with rhinestone detail and finished with an oversized gold buckle. Gemstone embellishment gives the buckle a decorative finish, while gold studs continue along the toe bumper and side. The result brings several visual references into one sneaker: skate construction, vintage accessory codes, animal-effect texture, and high-shine hardware.
Mongillo describes Metagirl as a project about embracing the feminine energy within everyone, with Diva as its fullest expression. She connects the sneaker to the woman who hears that she appears “too much,” then turns that criticism into a design code. Her phrase “divamaxxing” captures the attitude behind the release, where embellishment carries the idea instead of serving as a minor detail.
The collaboration also includes the Ruffle Knee High Sock in White. The sock extends the styling around the sneaker and adds a softer accessory to the heavier buckle, stud, and snakeskin treatment. Together, the pieces create a release that places the Old Skool 36 inside Metagirl’s exaggerated feminine register.
The Vans x Metagirl Premium Old Skool 36 Diva retails for 160 USD and launches May 28 on vans.com.
