Dylan’s mark on skateboarding culture is not only attributed to the progressive parts he’s put out for Osiris, Transworld, Gravis, Alien Workshop and Supreme, but also to the influence of style on and off the board among skaters across the globe. Watching the Dylan Gravis Part, it’s evident that his skate mentality is a balanced yin and yang between thrash and class. After Dylan joined the HUF team back in 2012, HUF was dedicated to creating a product that fully embodied Dylan’s attitude and style, designing and releasing his first signature shoe, The Dylan, in 2014. The iconic design of The Dylan left both skaters and mass-consumers scratching their heads wondering, „Does it skate?“ Yet, despite the silhouette looking like a formal dress shoe design, the Dylan was packed with HUF technology to handle the wear and tear of skateboarding, perfectly harmonizing thrash and class into a function footwear design. Although Dylan has passed away, HUF continues to release his shoe as a tribute, and donates the proceeds to the Rieder family. With the recent announcement from HUF stating their departure from footwear and focusing more in apparel, we’d like to bring you one last HUF weartested article, featuring the iconic HUF Dylan silhouette, in a slip-on model. Read on below to see how the HUF Dylan Slip-On performed in our 10-hour weartest.
The HUF Dylan Slip On fits true to size.
The HUF Dylan Slip On features an all suede upper that lasted incredibly during the whole 10 hour test period, despite a small hole appearing in the Ollie-area. The durability of the shoe is definitely good; the quality of suede that HUF chose to use for this shoe is no doubt one of the better quality suedes we have skated. Moreover, the toebox area consists of a rather large panel, which held up very well against the abuse of the griptape. The stitching used to hold the panels together are located in the sidewall area where it is well protected from griptape abuse.
The cushioning of the HUF Dylan Slip On is minimalistic. The cut clearly shows that it is a combination of a thin sole construction, combined with a thick foam insole. The sole itself is still too thin though, which decreases its cushioning abilities. To counter that, HUF uses a thicker foam insole, which increases in thickness as it tapers towards the heel. This design does improve cushioning, but still, all the stair jumpers will be left without much protection.
Shape is a crucial design element for the HUF Dylan Slip On. The shoe fits how it looks; it is very tight and long. Its entry area is really slim as well, but the shoe does widen out towards the mid-foot-area. The toebox itself is slim and pointy; overall, people with slim feet will enjoy this model much more.
Since the shoe doesn’t over-do it when it comes to cushioning, the boardfeel of the shoe shines. The sole throughout the whole toebox and frontal area is really thin, which in combination with its great grip, leads to great contact with the board. Grip did not decrease throughout our 10-hr test. The sole features a special HUF sole pattern which is very flexible so the shoe can really cover a large surface area on the griptape which increases grip.
The HUF Dylan Slip On leaves nothing to be desired when it comes to comfort. Since it is slim cut, it fits your foot very well. The inner construction of the slip on is minimalistic, which helps that there are no pressure points. Regarding stability, the Dylan Slip On performed average. Although, HUF has used high quality suede that holds up the shoe’s shape and structure very well, the heel area lacks a bit of support.
The classic silhouette of the HUF Dylan Slip On has a strong focus on boardfeel and grip, and the durability of the shoe was extremely positive, but the construction falls a bit short on heel stability and cushioning.
