Vans Estilo skate shoes - John Cardiel signature model

The Van's Estilo is John Cardiel's pro signature shoe. The word "estilo" means "style", which these shoes have in a strong, subtle, skatable form. Cardiel wanted a shoe that could withstand all around action skating, and put a lot of work into making this skateboarding shoe come off with a simple style, and yet be packed to withstand the rigors of hitting the pavement, ramps, or anything else.

These shoes are simply made well. Double stitched suede (most are suede - the ones in the photo are leather), triple stitched toe cap, padded heel collar and tongue (but not too padded), tongue straps - there's more, but all of these things have pretty much become standard in skate shoes. It has all of these, and packs them in a simple, comfortable design that's stylish, but not obnoxious - and purely skatable.

But there are some cool features that add well to the mix, without screaming at you. First off, there's Van's new cupsole construction - this helps with all types of skating, keeping the foot stable and more comfortable. Second, the footbed feels nice - it's full length polyurethane, with impactsorb in the heel. Vans has a great way of having simple looking shoes feel great on your feet - the Estilos are a perfect example. Last, Cariel insisted on the shoes having arch support! What a crazy idea! It's weird how many skate shoes out there don't have this - again, these shoes are flat out nice and comfortable.

Drawbacks? Not many - keeping the shoes simple and improving on solid designs is one of Van's strong points. However, the shoes do have a couple of little problems - namely, the laces have no protection and will get destroyed quick, and there's no toe reinforcement. That wouldn't have been hard to add, but it would have made the shoes look more technical - something that it seems Cariel was trying to avoid.