Making shoes for skydivers was probably not a good idea. – On the first day they opened the store with empty boxes. Then they opened a new store almost every week, went bankrupt and today they are doing billions in sales. How did Vansy survive its 55-year history?
Quality product
In 1966, Paul and Jim Van Doren, together with two partners, founded a shoe manufacturing company, the Van Doren Rubber Company. Not that they would choose a long name. But when it was no longer practical or pretty, it would at least take up the entire surface of the sneakers. That’s why they used the simpler abbreviation Van and later Vans. The brain of the whole operation was Paul, who wanted to start his own company after years of selling other people’s shoes and earn quality money on a quality product. Therefore, he used thick canvas, hard rubber for the soles and sewed them with nylon instead of cotton thread. The first model on sale was called #44. At first, all Vans models had only serial numbers. They only got fancy names a few years later. Number #44 is known today as Authentic. In those days they cost from $2.50 to $5, depending on color and size.
source: pillowheat.com
The thick canvas sneaker with a non-slip sole was inspired by the sailor’s loafers, which is why it quickly became popular with Californian surfers. Now imagine that you are a surfer in the 60s and you don’t have waves. What will you do? You mount wheels on a board and invent a skate.
Thus, sneakers from Van Doren with the philosophy “indestructible as a tank” became part of a new, growing subculture. They were ideal for skaters – even if they got worn while riding, they still kept their shape and fulfilled their function. Plus, they looked cool.
source: flickr.com/rodneywills
OFF THE WALL
Almost from the first day, customers could have a custom Vansky made from the material they brought themselves. According to the founder’s son Steve, this amazing service was created as an answer to demanding customers who wanted a shoe lighter or darker. They simply brought the fabric of the desired color and took away the dream model. A historic moment occurred when well-known skaters Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta designed their own shoes. In collaboration with them, the brand created the #95 model, literally tailor-made for skating – with soft padding around the ankle, the thickest canvas available on the heel and toe, and a revolutionary waffle sole. In the beginning, the sole of Vans only had a diamond pattern, which you see on most surfaces today. The waffle part was created so that the sole does not break under the toes when driving.
Today, model #95 is called Era.
source: thrashermagazine.com
Along with the first shoe created for skateboarding, the legendary OFF THE WALL logo was also created.
Other important upgrades came gradually. Leather edging for even greater durability of the ankle part and a leather strap on the side that defined one of the most popular models #36. Dnes je známy ako Old Skool . Potom prišiel nápad naozaj ochrániť členky pred nárazom dosky a svet dostal #38, teda Vans Sk8-hi.
source: heddels.com
Checker pattern
By the end of the 70s, Vans were already quite popular in the eastern US. Slip-ons became common equipment for high school students, and when they couldn’t afford to pay extra for custom designs, they simply bought the white version and painted it themselves. This is how the idea for the famous checkerboard pattern was born. The company simply “borrowed” it from customers and released it as a new edition. One couple was sent to the Universal film studio just for a test, which was just filming the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The result? Mega success! Otherwise, the film seems a little weaker today, but c’mon, year 82? We can imagine that it was a hit.
Anyway, thanks to him, Vans skyrocketed and everyone wore checkerboard slip-ons. It seemed that nothing could stop the company from growing.
Bankruptcy
Well, it could. The brand’s success lay in a high-quality shoe that you could get in a trillion color combinations and graphics. They even let the kids draw their own designs as part of a competition, for which the winner went to Disneyland and his design went to production. But when the founder Paul retired from the company, his brother Jim took the wheel and brought the company to bankruptcy. He started pushing for the creation of various sports models. According to Steve Van Doren, they were fakin serious
“basketball, baseball, football, tennis, skydiving and wrestling shoes. We even had breakdancing shoes!”
source thehustle.co
You may be surprised that these models were not very successful. Vansy gradually got into big debts and ended up in court in 1984 – officially bankrupt. The court ordered to replace Jim in the management, Paul returned in his place and he had the task of returning the owed sum of 11 million dollars.
He managed it in an incredible three years.
The company subsequently overcame the economic crisis, was bought out for 60 million dollars and continued its successful business. Since 1995, she has invested in the music festival Warped Tour, which she made the largest and longest-running traveling festival in the US. After a successful 25-year streak, its last year was held just last year. Pretty cool for the fact that she just recently got out of the 11-million ax?
Today’s Vans
After a hiatus of several years, Vansy re-launched the possibility of custom designs on their website in 2004, and in the summer of that year they were bought by VF Corporation for a cool $396 million. They also support sports and organize competitions in them. In addition to sneakers, they also produce clothing and accessories, and instead of crazy models, they come up with po3,14 or designs and collabs.
V roku 2011 dosiahli svoju prvú miliardu v predajoch. ?
V roku 2016 zažili nečakaný boom, keď hrali hlavnú rolu vo virálnom videu Damn, Daniel! Vďaka perfektnému výkonu na Danielových nohách vzrástli kamenné predaje Vansov o 20 % a online až o 30 %.
After all that, you can still buy Vans today in the same quality and design as 55 years ago, ride them or break them, and even with a few holes, you can still wear them reliably. We think Van Doren’s legacy is clear – he created immortal shoes with an immortal design and an immortal brand.
? S/O, Paul! ?
