If you work in a professional kitchen, it’s a constant struggle to keep your feet comfortable while standing for insanely long hours on the job.
And ask anyone who spends serious time in a kitchen and they’ll tell you: when it comes to footwear, comfort trumps fashion any day.
But maybe chefs can be comfortable and feel #swaggy at the same time, thanks to this collabo between Vans and No. 7 Subs chef Tyler Kord.
Vans wants to prove that it’s possible to have a shoe live up to professional kitchen standards while still looking good.
This exclusive update of the Vans Classic Slip-On offers the following features to kitchen professionals:
- an enhanced footbed with better cushioning and arch support
- a siped outsole for better traction on slippery kitchen floors
- a “black to the floor” design to hide stains
- canvas treated with Vansguard® to repel liquids, food, and grime
If you want to see them in action, you can visit Kord’s Brooklyn location of No.7, where he and his staff will be wearing their sweet new kicks while putting together your subs. No word if or when the cheffy Vans will be available to the public.
We think they definitely look good. However, from a kitchen pro perspective, reinforced toe boxes would totally make them better.
We could definitely be wrong, but these don’t look like they’d do much if you dropped something heavy—like a big stock pot or a full sheet pan—on your foot.
One of the reasons a lot of kitchen pros wear clogs is because—in addition to the Vans features listed above—clog toes are typically built to take abuse.
Drop something on your foot, it’s no problem. If your hands are full and you want to kick open a walk-in refrigerator door, or close an oven door—you don’t even think about it, you just do it. (And then maybe change into more aesthetically-pleasing shoes after work.)
We know the style isn’t for everybody, but these are definitely some of the reasons you see so many Danskos and Sanitas in professional kitchens. If Vans offered some unobtrusive toe protection while maintaining those sleek classic lines, these might be the only shoes pro kitchen workers would need—both at work and after work.
Here are a few more beauty shots: