Good Luck Getting Your Hands on These Marc Jacobs Vans

Marc Jacobs and Vans recently teamed up for what can only be described as a match made in shoe heaven: The designer and several artists from the U.S. and Japan have put their psychedelic spin on pairs of the brand’s canvas slip-on shoes, and the result is what’s probably coolest collaboration of the year. Unfortunately, there’s a catch. Only the pair designed by Jacobs will be available for purchase, in stores in Japan and New York City on Friday (June 16), and fewer than 200 pairs will be on sale, according to a press release from the designer. For those who can’t make it to Japan or NYC on such short notice, there will be an online giveaway to win a pair, but you be prepared to go head to head with thousands of other entrants in the sweepstakes. If you do somehow manage to get your hands on the sneaks, they’ll come with a set of Marc Jacobs x Sharpie pens so you can further customize the shoes at the in-store pop-up.

The Vans that will be available feature black line drawings across the shoe. Jacobs also designed another pair, this one with squiggly, abstract red and black doodles covering the shoes. Both designs are simple compared to some of the other, more 3-D-element-heavy designs. The pair by New York artist Milk, a RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, for example, comprise hundreds of straight pins stuck into the canvas shoes, creating a potentially hazardous walking situation.

For her pair, model Jazzelle Zanaughtti started with Jacobs’ design and hand-embroidered brightly colored designs, including an open mouth and an eye with dripping blue eyelashes, on the top of the shoe. She also attached several tangled, rainbow-colored pieces of thread to the rubber sole of the Vans. Julie Verhoeven, a fashion illustrator and designer, created a whimsical pair of painted slip-ons that look like monsters for your feet, with large white teeth painted around the rubber bottom, bright splotches of color, and a menacing giant red eye.