High-fashion Brand ERL is Bringing Back The OG Bulky 90s Skate Shoes

Baggy jeans dragged across cracked sidewalks, hoodies hung loose, and most importantly skate shoes were huge.

Those chunky silhouettes were not just for style. They gave you thick padding wide soles and the kind of board feel that felt perfect for street skating.

Brands were dropping models that became legends in their own right and for a lot of skaters that was the golden age of skate footwear.

Now ERL is tapping straight into that nostalgia with a new release that could easily have rolled out of a Venice Beach skate shop in the late 90s.

The LA based label is marking its fifth anniversary with a chunky skate inspired sneaker drenched in a vivid aqua shade.

Designed by Eli Russell Linnetz the shoe nods to his hometown roots capturing that carefree street skating culture that thrived on California curbs ledges and parking lots.

The build is all about comfort and flexibility using a polyurethane construction that can take a beating while still moving with your foot.

The detailing goes even deeper with panels wrapped in prints pulled from underground Venice Beach newspapers from the 1970s connecting skate culture to the raw DIY creativity that has always been part of the scene.

At 445 dollars the ERL Vamp is not cheap but it is clearly aimed at skaters and collectors who remember when shoes were designed for stomping tricks down stair sets and hanging out at the spot all afternoon. Sizes run from 6 to 12 and it is available now online.