Vans put on a dope weekend of skate jams, tattooing, live music and much more for the House of Vans Paris warehouse takeover on the 16th and 17th of December. Check out a photographic and written recap of what went down and keep an eye out for the next time one of these is happening!
Over the 16th and 17th December, House of Vans descended on Paris to transform a defunct indoor carpark in the heart of the city. Over 3,500 revellers attended the celebration of creativity that took place over the two days. This unique space played host to everything from tattoo workshops, to a best trick contest plus live music sets including performances from some of the biggest artists in Grime & French Hip Hop. Over the weekend, the House of Vans welcomed guests from all over France reasserting the Vans commitment to the”Off The Wall” spirit of free and untethered creative self-expression.
Saturday kicked off with various workshop programs including a flash tattoo pop up presented by L’Encrerie with the surprise addition of Skate legend Eric Dressen joining them. Running in conjunction, Vans Customs Artists Agathe Toman (French painter) and Alex Jenkins (London Illustrator) were on hand to host a workshop that ignited everyone’s imagination through their unique drawings, which would eventually turn into exclusive customs designs uploaded to Vans new Customs platform. Furthermore, the Lovenskate crew who have been making zines, printed boards and grip in East London since 2001, offered up four grip tape designs celebrating Vans and it’s history for the attendees to print and choose from. If that wasn’t enough the Vans European Skate team were joined by Lizzia Armanto for a full throttle demo in Cosnostra’s custom built park, hand painted by Vans favourite Nairone. Continuing the skateboarding theme, the best trick jam saw a host of competitors take to the custom built stair set where Sam Partaix was on hand to dish out the cash. Finally, in amongst all the excitement a place of tranquility was made possible on the ground floor of the venue with Michael Burnett’s (Thrasher Magazine) exhibition taking centre stage with nearly 20 years worth of gnarly skate photography on display.
After the daytime activities wrapped up, fans moved over to the main music stage for evening performances from both local and European acts. Renowned artists Giggs and Roméo Elvis kept the atmosphere electric throughout the evening playing a host of classics from their respective playlists. Local acts including Hony Zuka and Supa! supported ably on the night.
Sunday saw the families roll into town to enjoy Vans Family day. Mums & Dads were all safe in the knowledge that there kids would be suitably busy with Lovenskate, Vans Customs Artists and the Skate School all returning for another day of creativity and new learnings.
