Louis Vuitton ripped off Vans with a slip-on shoe that costs $900

Louis Vuitton’s embrace of skateboarding culture under the late Virgil Abloh continues with the release of a sneaker that instantly feels familiar.

The new Ollie Slip On is a dead ringer for the Vans Slip-On, only significantly more lavish. Louis Vuitton’s adoption of the timeless silhouette sees the two-paneled upper with elastic bands done up in a puffy textile with the French luxury house’s monogram debossed all over. And if that weren’t enough branding, the monogram is repeated and protrudes from the sneaker’s midsole.

While Vans’ quintessential sneaker, which saw a massive spike in attention because of Squid Game, will only set you back $55 for the most unadulterated pairs, Louis Vuitton’s version costs a whopping $865. For now, LV Ollie Slip On is only available through the label’s British website and in all-black — but you can bank on it coming to the States soon and eventually in a wider variety of colors.

LV loves a luxe makeover — Guided by Abloh’s “3 percent” philosophy of tweaking existing designs, Louis Vuitton has released a variety of recognizable footwear silhouettes over the past several years. Most notable is the LV Trainer that borrows heavily from the Air Jordan 3 and 4, as well as the lesser-known Avia 880 once worn by Scottie Pippen and Clyde Drexler. Last year alone, there was also the Birkenstock lookalike LV Trainer Mule and Nike Foamposite-esque Millenium — but the trend is also wider within luxury, including Chuck Taylor-mimicking B23 over at Dior.

Although the Vans Slip-On or Louis Vuitton’s new version are hardly skateable today, the latter does align come as part of a more serious turn to skateboarding from the luxury house. Lucien Clarke became the first pro skater to endorse LV in 2020 and received his own signature sneaker, dubbed “A View.” The label has also started to release complete skateboards instead of just decks, giving us the pleasure of seeing Abloh himself do a heelflip on a board worth more than many cars.

For most of us, there’s no point in blowing nearly $900 for a sneaker when the original can be had for for approximately 6 percent of the price. But if you’re properly caked up, why settle for the basics when you can have a monogrammed-out shoe?