On one side, VEJA: clean lines, instantly recognisable silhouettes and an approach to sneakers that has always favoured restraint over noise.
On the other, Konges Sløjd: a Copenhagen universe populated by cherries, lemons, bows, unexpected colour combinations and all the beautifully strange little details that make childhood feel like its own aesthetic language.
Put them together and something happens.
The sneaker becomes a little less serious. The cherry becomes a little more grown up. And suddenly two brands with very distinct visual identities seem as though they might have been quietly waiting for one another all along.
At the centre of the collaboration is the Small Volley, a children’s interpretation of a silhouette rooted in VEJA’s own beginnings. Its origins stretch back to the brand’s first Volley from 2005, itself inspired by Brazilian volleyball shoes from the 1970s. There is history in the shape but this time, history arrives with fruit embroidered on top.
And somehow, it works.
Perhaps that’s because Konges Sløjd has always understood something important about designing for children: childish and childlike are not the same thing.
Its world can be dreamy without becoming overly sweet, nostalgic without looking dated and playful without feeling designed solely for adults who want their children to look adorable.
There is always something slightly offbeat hiding somewhere.
A cherry. A strange little phrase. A colour you weren’t expecting. A silhouette that makes you look twice.
VEJA’s restraint gives those details somewhere to land.
Rather than turning the sneaker into a walking print explosion, the collaboration feels considered. The recognisable Konges Sløjd motifs appear against the simplicity of the Volley, creating the sort of balance that feels particularly right for children’s fashion now: fun enough for the person actually wearing it, beautiful enough for the person probably buying it.
Because children, of course, could not care less about synergy between brand DNAs.
They care about whether they can run in something.
Whether they can put it on themselves.
Whether the cherry is cute.
Whether someone else has a better pair.
And whether those shoes will survive whatever completely unnecessary activity they decide to attempt five minutes later.
That reality is part of what makes children’s design interesting.
A shoe can look beautiful in a campaign, but eventually it has to meet real life: playground concrete, scooter wheels, muddy parks, half-eaten snacks, mysterious stains and the particular determination children have to test the structural limits of everything they own.
Here, the charming details coexist with practical decisions. The Volley shape comes with a protective toe cap; the laces retain the look of a classic lace up while being elastic enough for children to handle independently. Even the decision to leave the toe in plain suede rather than covering the hardest hit area in print reveals the sort of thinking that only comes from actually knowing how kids wear things.
For babies, meanwhile, the collaboration moves into even tinier territory.
There is something almost absurdly irresistible about translating an established sneaker into a version designed for someone’s very first steps particularly when tiny embroidered fruit is involved. VEJA admits the baby version had its Paris design team falling collectively in love.
Understandable.
What makes the collaboration particularly charming, though, is that neither brand appears interested in treating children’s design as a diluted version of something made for adults.
If anything, the opposite seems true.
VEJA speaks about allowing itself more freedom in its kids collections, sometimes to the point that children’s designs later influence the adult line. Konges Sløjd has what may be an even more effective research department: children wandering around its office and little models on set whose immediate instinct to grab, or completely ignore, a product can be more revealing than any strategy meeting.
It is a reminder that children are perhaps fashion’s most brutally efficient critics.
They do not care about the campaign concept. They will simply refuse to wear it.
Maybe that is why the best children’s design retains some sense of instinct. The colours can be stronger. The humour can be stranger. The nostalgia can be more sincere. There is room for objects to exist simply because they create delight.
And this collaboration has plenty of that.
It feels like ripe cherries eaten outside in summer. Like tiny hands, scuffed knees and clothes that come home with evidence of the day still attached to them. Like something nostalgic without being entirely sure whose nostalgia it belongs to, the child’s or the parent’s.
Most importantly, it understands that childhood rarely stays pristine.
Neither should a good pair of sneakers.
We spoke with both VEJA and Konges Sløjd about creative freedom, designing for tiny feet, unofficial child creative directors, Scandinavian nostalgia and the surprisingly complicated decision of which fruit deserves a place on a sneaker…
For VEJA
🍋: The Small Volley already has a very classic feel. What happens when you add a little Scandinavian childhood nostalgia to a French sneaker icon?
What happens is a real dialogue between two strong identities. The Small Volley already carries real VEJA sneaker history: same silhouette as the original Volley, VEJA’s very first shoe, created in 2005 and inspired by 1970s Brazilian volleyball. It keeps the notched panel that’s part of its identity. Add Konges Sløjd’s world on top, their colors, their prints, this Scandinavian childhood softness, and the two settle into each other with real tenderness. The result is classy and a bit vintage, but also cute and nostalgic in a completely different way, like two childhood memories layered on top of each other.
🍋: VEJA is usually quite minimal, while Konges Sløjd brings cherries, lemons and a little bit of whimsy. Was this collaboration an excuse to loosen up and have more fun?
Collaboration is always a way for us to step outside our comfort zone. We love working with brands that have their own bold identity, their own prints and details, because it pushes us somewhere we wouldn’t necessarily go on our own. It gives us the chance to create something special, with a bigger reach than what we usually do.And I have to say, it’s just really fun to bring another DNA into our product.
🍋: Be honest: what was the first Konges Sløjd print you immediately wanted to put on a VEJA sneaker?
Honestly, it wasn’t easy. During a trip to Copenhagen, we visited their showroom and we were genuinely impressed by how many prints they design, the range is huge. There were so many great options that narrowing it down to just one was the real challenge. We ended up choosing their icon, the cherry and the lemon, because it just felt right for a first collaboration. And it already makes us want to do a second one!
🍋: Is there a detail in the collection that feels tiny, but that the design team was completely obsessed with?
We wanted to carry those same prints into a baby version, and that’s what got the whole design team. The moment the baby shoes arrived, with that little embroidery on the top view, nobody could resist it. The whole team in Paris fell in love with this cuttiness. And being able to offer the full family, from baby to kids, in the same colorways, that’s a part we’re very proud of.
🍋: The collaboration brings together playful design with both brands’ attention to quality and considered production. Was finding that balance particularly important when creating shoes for children?
Quality has always been at the center of everything we do, and that starts with where our materials come from. We use leather sourced from organic-certified farms in Uruguay, and like every VEJA sneaker, the sole is made with 35% Amazonian rubber. That’s not something specific to this collaboration, it’s just who we are. And it’s exactly the kind of value we’re proud to carry through when we work with other brands.
🍋: Kids’ shoes have to survive everything from playgrounds and puddles to scooters, snacks and general chaos. Does that make designing for children more fun, or secretly much harder?
The Volley shape itself is really well suited for a kid: the toe cap protects against knocks, and the laces give that vintage, fashion look while staying elastic, which makes them easy for a child to manage on their own. We always think about how a design can survive a kid’s actual life, so for example the toe stays in plain suede, no print there, because that’s the part that takes the most hits. After fifteen years of designing kids’ shoes, we know exactly what we can and can’t do. We allow ourselves more freedom on kids’ models than on adult ones. And, fun fact, it’s not rare for a kids’ design to end up inspiring the adult collection afterward !
🍋: If you could make the next VEJA Kids shoe purely based on what children would choose, no adults allowed, what do you think it would look like?
I genuinely put myself in a child’s shoes, with a childish heart, because that’s the only way to really understand what they’d go for. It’s something I truly believe in, and it’s how I build every collection, strong energy, strong colors. For this one, I kept that same childish esthetic, but leaned into something softer, a little cherry, a little lemon, things kids recognize from their own world. It’s sweet and playful in a way that feels just theirs, and it happens to be the kind of design parents fall for just as easily.
For KONGES
🍋: Your cherries and lemons have basically become tiny celebrities. Did you ever imagine they would end up on a pair of VEJAs?
A girl can dream, right? We’re very proud to be featured on these iconic shoes, and we feel like our little signature prints are the perfect match. Hand-drawn with a certain kind of simplicity yet quirkiness that matches the thoughtfulness of VEJA’s designs.
🍋: Konges Sløjd has mastered that very specific mood of childhood: nostalgic, dreamy, but still cool. What is the secret to making something cute without making it too cute?
To always think outside the box and do something a little bit unexpected. It shouldn’t be easy to predict our next steps – we love to make people look twice. This could be the styling, the silhouettes, the unexpected color pairings. The styling is very important to us – and our visual universe, which changes all the time. We don’t want our customers to get too comfortable – we want them to be excited about whatever we do next.
🍋: What feels more “Konges Sløjd” to you: cherries, lemons, bows, stripes… or something completely unexpected?
We don’t generally like to put ourselves in a box and be limited to one thing. What feels truly Konges Sløjd is exactly the unexpectedness – the ‘what will they do next’. That could be a fresh print, a cute quote that makes you giggle or look twice.
But we do love a good cherry and lemon – they are true classics.
🍋: Children have very strong opinions about what they wear. Do the kids around you ever act as unofficial creative directors and are they brutally honest?
We have kids running around the office all day long because they come in with mom or dad to work, so they are our unofficial test group. Their immediate reactions are priceless to us. Same as on our photo shoots – the products our little models grab first or don’t want to let go of are bound to become bestsellers.
🍋: The collection includes shoes for babies taking their very first steps. Does designing for such a tiny wearer change the way you think about beauty, comfort and functionality?
We try to make our baby universe soft to wear – always. The details are incredibly thoughtful, and the prints and fabrics made for delicate baby skin with functional features that make it easy for parents to grab for during everyday routines.
🍋: Finish the sentence: Childhood should always have more ________.
Love, hugs, and kisses. It should be a given that every child feels safe and protected, but unfortunately this isn’t the case.
🍋: If this collection were a childhood memory rather than a pair of shoes, what would it look, smell or feel like?
Ripe cherries in summer, still a little bit warm – picked straight from the tree with little spills everywhere on summer shorts, tees and dresses.
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