When US multidisciplinary artist Julian Klincewicz moved with his family from Chicago to San Diego at the age of seven, his world shifted completely. Swapping suburban grey for the sun-bleached freedom of Southern California, he was quickly absorbed into its rhythms – skating endlessly, making art, playing music, chasing teenage adventure. Those memories of endless summers, scraped-up trainers and days spent drifting between skateparks and beaches still feed through his work today. Like so many SoCal coming-of-age stories, Vans was part of the backdrop from the beginning. Now, in a full-circle moment, Klincewicz reunites with OTW by Vans for a sophomore collaboration rooted in youthful nostalgia and the desire to hold onto that restless sense of adventure, curiosity and imagination.

“[It] was sort of based on initial impressions of Southern California,” he tells us of the collection. “Getting into skating, what the music on the radio was, the graphic shirt styles I’d see in Ocean Beach, hiking Cowell’s Mountain at sunrise, doing an after-school circus programme.” Together, this tapestry of adolescence forms a tangible moodboard that guides Klincewicz’s signature ‘Joyous Chorus’ universe – a world of hand-drawn sketches, personal symbols, and distressed textures. Translating this visual language to his Vans collab, the collection reimagines classic Vans silhouettes through DIY sensibilities.

At the centre of the release are updated versions of the Old Skool 36 and Style 31, both finished with suede overlays, custom labels featuring drawings pulled from Klincewicz’s long-running daily to-do list ritual, and a fun charm inspired by his dog, Roo (a golden retriever and red fox lab mix). The collection extends into vintage-washed fleece and graphic tees that channel the artist’s SoCal influences, from skate culture and surf punk to tie-dye sunsets and the beauty of a wardrobe customised through wear, age and adventure.

“When I was ten I got into skating, and that completely took over and shaped everything.”

Alex James Taylor: Hey Julian, can you tell us about your approach to the Vans collab – what were your initial thoughts and ideas?
Julian Klincewicz: It’s been a fun project. It started as a sort of continuation or part two to my last Vans collaboration, which revolved around summers spent in Michigan. For this one, I was thinking about San Diego, around 2001/2002. The collection was based on my initial impressions of Southern California. Getting into skating, what the music on the radio was, the graphic shirt styles I’d see on Ocean Beach, hiking Cowell’s Mountain at sunrise, doing an after-school circus programme. I just let those memories guide the collection, let it be fun and colourful, and embody those first impressions.

AJT: Can you tell us about moving to San Diego when you were a kid and the feel of the place during that time in your life?
JK: We moved when I was seven. I remember bits and pieces of driving cross-country to our apartment on Arnold Avenue. Soak Up the Sun would be on the radio in my mom’s purple Plymouth mini van, or Sugar Ray or Death Cab for Cutie. My sister and I did an after-school circus program called ‘Fern Street Circus’, and I loved that so much. It got me really into unicycling, which eventually lead me to do Mountain Unicycling. When I was ten I got into skating, and that completely took over and shaped everything. It gave me a whole lens on the world, just long days at the skatepark all summer long. The freedom and boredom of that time, we used to go on these long walks for miles and miles just exploring the city, or skating from one neighborhood all the way across town to another. That spirit was what I was interested in exploring, and is also so central to Vans’ history.

“I was pulling inspiration from time spent at Shakus Skatepark in Ocean Beach, and then also the off-road trails I’d unicycle on.”

AJT: I love the raw elements, the holes, distress and discolouring, it’s a real ode to youthful adventure and not giving a shit. Can you take us through those elements?
JK: I just wanted to capture a mood, something really playful and fun that felt like it captured a bit of the spirit of San Diego at that time – or at least, my impression of it.
We got a really beautiful wash and colour on the shirts, which has this graphic of four dancing figures. I was thinking about the skate, beach culture at the time, but also about circus – that kind of whimsical movement. The shoes are a mix. We did two really colourful models on the 36, for which I was pulling inspiration from time spent at Shakus Skatepark in Ocean Beach, and then also the off-road trails I’d unicycle on. Then the third model – the Style31 – is really pared back. Just a hairy suede with a kind of blue/black/grey colour to it. With that one, I was really thinking about spending time with friends; a sort of everyday shoe that looks great as it fades and gets beat up. It reminded me of when I started skating Washington Street, or bored after school, drawing on my shoes. They all embody bits and pieces of different characters, and are also a jumble of the whole SoCal experience.

AJT: Talk to us about Joyous Chorus, where did it come from and what does it mean to you?
JK: I made a body of work a few years back called Solo Tumult, which was a photo book of surf images and landscapes paired with a kind of poetic meditation on transformation, purpose, and crisis. It ultimately is a sort of existential wrestling with one’s own purpose, and focuses on the idea of the “crisis” as a catalyst for clarity and transformation. When I was showing the work in Japan, it occurred to me that I’d spent so much time with this phrase Solo Tumult, that what I actually desired was the opposite. So I came up with the counterweight or opposite: ‘Joyous Chorus’. A shared celebration, a harmony of voices, a collective joy. As I was making this collection, all of the references I was gravitating towards – the long days at the skatepark, being in the circus, endless adventures with friends – they all seemed to embody that spirit of the Joyous Chorus. I think the phrase too just has a levity or playfulness to it. I also wrote a song with the same title that is very much in this San Diego, 2001 world.

“I remember going to the San Ysidro outlet malls as a kid and getting these like turquoise argyle Vans Slip-Ons that I just loved. I wore them until they were in shreds.”

AJT: Lastly, can you tell us about Vans in your own life – do you remember your first pair? Do you have a favourite model? How do they influence you as an artist and a skater?
JK: I do actually. I remember going to the San Ysidro outlet malls as a kid and getting these like turquoise argyle Vans Slip-ons that I just loved. I wore them until they were in shreds. I remember so clearly Plain White Tee’s music video being on in the Vans store, and I was just looking at all the shoes. Then I’ve had countless pairs of Authentics, Slip-ons, Eras and Old Skools. My favourite model is definitely the Style31, to me it’s just such a low-key but perfect shoe, and a kind of secret classic for Vans. Very underrated and I’m always so stoked I get to do it as part of my collections.

Shop the OTW by Vans x Julian Klincewicz collection now.