Mario Batali has his orange rubber clogs, Morimoto has his knives, and Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain have their Good & Evil chocolate bar. Not to be outdone, Jose Garces now has his own sneakers. A rep for the Iron Chef tells us he was recently tapped by Vans to design a pair of kicks for its Custom Culture Program, a design competition. The program challenges high school students all across the US to turn its shoes into original works of art to highlight the importance and give a boost to arts education. Each year the shoe makers award $50,000 to one winning student’s school. Garces was chosen as one of the ambassadors for this year’s competition, and he lent his own design skills in the form of a pair of Vans tricked out with Jarritos bottle caps to resemble his Guapos Tacos food truck. The shoes will be shown in the competition’s Grand Championship Finals.
