Vans Sneaker

Vans is a California-based sneaker manufacturer serving the “extreme” sports public and youth. Paul Van Doren, the founder of Vans, teamed up with three partners to open up their first store on March 16, 1966 in Anaheim, CA. On the first morning of their business, Vans made their first twelve sales of Vans Authentic (then known as Vans deck shoes). What made Vans unique was that it manufactured its own shoes and sold them directly to the public. The twelve customers who bought the Vans shoes actually ordered their shoes in the morning and were available for pick-up during the afternoon; the actual shoes were made that day.

Since the 70’s, Vans garnered a large skateboarder following due the shoes’ performance in the sport; Vans featured sticky soles – a huge plus for skaters – and a rugged design that fit the skating community. In 1975, Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, two skateboard icons, designed the Vans #95, which is now known as the Vans Era, and in 1979, Vans created the #44 (aka the Vans Slip-On). The Slip-On gained relevance outside of skateboarding, as it was worn by Spicoli, the memorable character portrayed by Sean Penn in the film ‘Fast Times At Ridgemont High’.

After the success of their skater-friendly models, Vans produced shoes for other sports, such as baseball, basketball, and wrestling in an effort to compete with other athletic footwear powerhouses. However, their experiment proved costly, as the shoes did not perform well in the market; in fact, Vans’ venture into other sports consumed most of the company’s finances, and in 1983, Vans was forced into bankruptcy. Since then, the company has been bought and sold repeatedly. Regardless of the numerous changes of hands, Vans was deemed one of America’s Best Small Companies in 2000 and 2001 by Forbes.

The boom of skater-culture in the 21st Century led to Vans’ re-emergence into the limelight. While once reserved for skaters (who were categorized as rebels and do-no-gooders), the Vans footwear line-up has become prominent item in today’s fashion, and has reached footwear-staple status as the Converse All-Star currently does. Vans launched ‘Vans Customs’ which allowed buyers to customized their own pair of Vans footwear. Vans also introduced the Vans Vault line, which is a select collection of Vans footwear in premium materials. The Vault collection has elevated into a limited/exclusive collection, with just a small number of stores in the U.S. carrying the Vault line.