Vans Half Cab

About

The Vans Half Cab is a mid-top skateboarding shoe released in 1992 as skate legend Steve Caballero's second signature model with Vans, arriving three years after his original 1989 high-top Caballero shoe. Its design originated on the street rather than in a studio: street skaters had begun cutting down the collar of the original high-top Caballero and taping the cut edges to create a lower-profile shoe better suited to technical flip tricks. Vans and Caballero, observing this DIY trend, responded officially, and longtime Vans pattern-maker Bunny Caminiti altered the original Caballero pattern into the sloped mid-top now known as the Half Cab. The shoe kept several elements of the original, including a two-piece toe cap and the Vans Waffle Grip gum outsole, but replaced the Caballero side-panel patch with one reading Half Cab alongside a graphic of Caballero performing the half-caballerial trick the shoe is named for. It is sold under Vans' Classic Line, with an upgraded Pro Skate version also offered.