The Brand:
Vans is a sneaker manufacturer based in Southern California. The brand primarily makes skateboarding shoes and other types of sneakers catering towards the extreme sports youth set.
History:
Vans was founded by Paul Van Doren. Van Doren, born in 1930, grew up in the Boston Area. At 14 he decided that school wasn’t really for him. His mother forced him into getting him a job making shoes and sweeping the factory floor at the company she worked for, Randy’s (a one-time Boston based shoe manufacturer).
Starting at the bottom, Paul worked his way up the ladder and eventually became Executive Vice President of Randy’s after 20 years. Randy’s had become the third largest manufacturer of shoes in the United States. The company had a factory in Gardenvale, California that was losing almost a million dollars per month. Paul Van Doren, his brother Jim Van Doren and long time friend Gordon Lee were given the task of straightening out the factory. It took them only 8 months to turn the Gardenvale factory around, resulting in that factory performing even better than Randy’s main headquarters in Boston.
After saving the Randy’s plant in California, Paul decided he would take on the challenge of starting a new sneaker brand. He partnered with his brother Jim and long-time business associate Serge D’Elia. All three moved their families to Southern California and setup operation in Anaheim. It took almost a year to put together the self-reliant factory and on March 15, 1966 the Van Doren Rubber Company sneaker line began producing their unique shoes.
Vans shoes were originally made right in the store. The brand took custom orders and had them ready for pick-up within a few days. The original Vans were designed with a diamond tread but this proved to not be good for longevity so the brand added vertical lines in the tread to increase strength, friction and grip. The tread was then officially named the “waffle-sole.”
1995 marked the official end of Vans being manufactured in the U.S. The company now off shores their manufacturing to factories primarily in Asia.
Today:
Vans works heavily in the surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, urban and punk markets. They also market additional items such as clothing and skateboarding accessories.
