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The first shoe from the VANSZA line, a Knu Skool rebuilt as a mule with a sculpted heel
Soleback Team
The VANSZA Knu Skool Mule, style code VN00119WBA2, goes on sale on 22 October 2026 at £75. It is the first shoe from the collection SZA designed as Vans' artistic director. The classic Knu Skool has been rebuilt as a mule with a sculpted, enclosed heel, and the footbed carries custom artwork by Sage Adams. With Soleback cashback active, part of that £75 comes back: every 1 per cent is £0.75.
VANSZA is the name of the whole line, a contraction of Vans and SZA. The artist took the artistic director role at Vans roughly a year before this collection was announced, and the October drop is her first official set for the brand.
Vans frames the collection as a project rooted in curiosity, creativity and the freedom to explore. In practice that means clothes and shoes designed around how SZA actually uses them, rather than how they photograph in a lookbook.
The Knu Skool is one of the most recognisable Vans models of recent years, with an exaggerated, inflated shape lifted from the nineties. SZA's version takes the heel off and turns it into a mule, but not by the path of least resistance.
Instead of a flat, loose back it gets a sculpted heel cup that holds the foot in place. That is the compromise between a secure fit and the easy on, easy off feel a mule is there for.
Upper: black suede
SideStripe: applied in 3D rather than stitched flat
Heel: sculpted and enclosed, keeping the foot in the shoe
Footbed: custom artwork by Sage Adams, with watercolour elements
Hang tag: made for the line, carrying the VANSZA wordmark
Packaging: designed separately for this collection
Style code: VN00119WBA2
Alongside the mule comes the Authentic Kickdown, code VN00115AWHT. It sits on distressed canvas, carries its own artwork and has a collapsible heel you can step down on. That detail comes straight from SZA's own habit of standing on the backs of her shoes.
It is a neat illustration of how the whole collection is put together: rather than fight the way people wear shoes out, the design takes that habit and turns it into a feature.
Beyond footwear the drop covers apparel, including a fleece set with a trompe l'oeil print that photorealistically imitates a worn jacket, a denim hunting jacket, a multi-pocket denim pant and an oversized short. T-shirts, sweaters, hats and socks fill out the range.
The collection was shown ahead of release, on 10 and 11 September during New York Fashion Week at 260 Bowery. A second drop from the line is scheduled for spring 2027.
Price: £75
Release: 22 October 2026
Main channel: Vans stores and the brand's own site
The full list of stores with active cashback sits in the Soleback catalogue.
JD Sports: large allocation, a good place to check stock
size?: high street chain, often holds sizes after launch day
schuh: nationwide chain with straightforward returns
Office: broad Vans range across the high street and online
Footasylum: deep stock levels, useful for restocks
END.: Newcastle retailer that carries Vans collaborations
Sneakersnstuff: Swedish store with reliable Vans collaboration coverage
At £75 every 1 per cent is £0.75. At 3 per cent that is £2.25 back, at 5 per cent £3.75, at 8 per cent £6. Add an apparel piece from the same collection and the figure scales with the basket.
For the rebate to register, open the store's page in the Soleback catalogue before you buy and click through from there. If you would rather not remember every time, the Soleback extension prompts you to activate. New accounts also get the welcome bonus.
App versus browser: cashback registers on browser purchases, buying inside a retailer app usually will not track
Codes from elsewhere: a voucher found outside Soleback can zero the commission, and then there is nothing to pay out from
Sizing a mule: without a heel the shoe sits differently from a standard Knu Skool, so narrow feet should consider going down a size
Approval time: the rebate is released after the returns window closes
The VANSZA Knu Skool Mule is one of the rarer cases where an artist collaboration ends in an actual change to the construction rather than just a new print. The sculpted heel, the 3D SideStripe and the Sage Adams footbed make it a model of its own instead of a recoloured Knu Skool. It lands on 22 October 2026 at £75.
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Soleback Team
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