Vans Debuts the Old Skool 36 FM at Milan Design Week 2025

If the original Vans Old Skool was a product of Southern California’s skate subculture in the ’70s, the Old Skool 36 FM feels like it was born in a science lab, sometime in the 3000s.

The Vans Old Skool 36 FM will be available for purchase on April 11 at Vans.

Vans’ brand new silhouette debuted at Milan Design Week inside an immersive installation called Checkered Future: Frequency Manifest. The immersive experience, created by designer Willo Perron, took place at the historic Triennale Milano museum, where guests were invited to recline on a sleek steel slope as Tim Hecker’s mechanical yet meditative sound filled the space.

A multi-sensory journey followed, where shifting mirrors, plumes of smoke, and beams of light moved in sync, creating a physical representation of sound in motion.

“The concept was to visualize the architecture and visual language of sound,” said Ian Ginoza, Global Vice President and Creative Director of Pinnacle Product at Vans. “Sound waves, frequencies, patterns, vibrations—all of that informed the design language of the shoe.”

That design language shows up all over the Old Skool 36 FM. There’s the wavy pattern across the outsole, a nod to sound waves. The knit upper and 3D-injected TPU Sidestripe also add a futuristic touch.

“I look at it [the Old Skool 36 FM] akin to what the automobile industry does with concept cars,” Ginoza explained.

Vans’ philosophy revolves around their three Fs: form, fit, and feeling. That feeling is not just about how the shoe feels on-foot, but about how it makes you feel emotionally when you wear it.

This is the first release under OTW by Vans’ new Future Make series (hence the FM in its name), which is dedicated to reimagining Vans icons through progressive construction and experimental materials. The 36 FM is the classic Old Skool seen through a filter of highly engineered knits, componentized cupsoles, and Vans’ new Sola Foam ADC insole tech. According to Ginoza, Future Make is a space to explore “new methods of make and materiality” but also a chance to push Vans beyond its usual lane.

The Old Skool 36 FM is for anyone curious enough to experiment even if it looks nothing like the shoes they grew up skating in.

“Future Make is about co-creating with innovators from skateboarding, art, design, and music,” said Ginoza. “People who embody that exploratory spirit.”