Vans announce Custom Culture competition winner

Streetwear brand Vans has announced Moanalua High School as the winner of the 13th annual Vans Custom Culture competition; it aims to highlight the importance of art programmes for students.

Moanalua High School won 50,000 dollars to support its school art programme. The following schools placed in the top four in the competition and were awarded limited-edition Vans gifts, as well as 15,000 dollars to help their high school art programs: Avella Jr. Sr. High School, Central High School, Sisters High School and Wrangell High School.

This year, the five schools will also receive an artist mentorship lesson from one of Vans’ art ambassadors, including Camilo Medina, David Heo, Jay Howell, Kelly Breez, Mich Miller, Noah Humes, O.J. Hays, Sara Yukiko Mon, Sydney G. James, Todd Francis and Tony Whlgn.

Jaidalyn Kamaunu, a senior at Moanalua, said in a statement: “Knowing that I ended my senior year with that kind of thing… I'm really happy and I wanted to cry happy tears.”

Dianne Cabico, another student at Moanalua, added: “We worked nearly every single day after school for about one to two hours a day. There were days on the weekends that we would dedicate a whole seven-hour workday just to work on the shoes.”