The VANS shoe brand is present at the OUTSIDE store in Aix-en-provence as well as its entire range of clothing.
A true landmark of the skate culture for more than 50 years, VANS offers high quality shoes for skateboarding and for everyday life. We make a small summary of the history of this brand like no other whose fame is closely linked to the development of skateboarding in the USA and the world.
Once upon a time, in California...
VANS: Genesis and first stores
With their experience at Randolph Rubber MFG (in their native Massachusetts), where they helped create the first shoe designed for skateboarding, the Randy 720 (1965), brothers Paul and James Van Doren (with their partners Gordon Lee and Serge Delia) inaugurated the "Van Doren Rubber Company" on March 16, 1966 in Anaheim, California.
The company was unique at the time because the manufacturing and sales were done on site, in order to cut out the middleman and maximize profits.
VANS creates the #44 Deck Shoe, one of the first three shoe models sold at the "House of Vans" store, which will later become the Authentic.
The first VANS shoes sold at the Anaheim store cost $4.49 for men and $2.29 for women. To save money, only the demo models are for sale, and reproduced the same day if purchased.
Thanks to their new Made in the USA thick sole, VANS shoes are an immediate success and new stores are opened in Orange County.
Legend has it that Paul never followed his accountant's advice to close the stores that were losing money, and instead took the opposite approach, opening one store a week for a year to produce more, and thus lower the cost of production.
The strategy was moderately successful and the VANS company struggled to make money for several years.
In the early 70's, VANS became more and more influential in Southern California. Skateboarders made it their favorite shoe brand thanks to the innovative process of their soles.
Indeed, the brand being particularly attentive to its customers, it created a new waffle sole even more resistant offering a better grip for skating and a unique robustness.
VANS also customizes its shoe models, offering in store a choice of many custom-made parameters and making unique models from one day to the next!
Skater adoption and awareness
If skateboarders already appreciated VANS in the early 70s, everything changed with the arrival of the first shoes dedicated specifically to skateboarding.
March 1976 saw the arrival of the VANS Era model (initially named #95), designed with the help of Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta, and innovating with its padded collar and diamond embossed sole.
That same year, the "Off The Wall" logo made its debut by adorning the first Era. The slogan refers to Tony Alva doing a tune in the Bowl and is immediately adopted by skateboarders.
Alva and Peralta were instrumental in the new success of the VANS shoes, which became the foundation for the legendary Z-Boys team. Thanks to them, VANS gained a huge reputation among skateboarders.
Today, the VANS Era is still a VANS staple and continues to seduce aficionados who swear by its extra thin sole and its unique "feel", as close to the board as possible.
Release of the VANS Old Skool
In 1977, VANS ventured further into skateboarding and designed the VANS Old Skool (#36) which features the legendary "Sidestripe" side stripe and leather panels for durability. Originally named "Jazz Stripe" the VANS logo will play a determining role in the international competition against competitors with a logo as identifiable as Nike.
That same year, VANS released its #98 aka VANS Slip-on, the brand's first laceless model, which made a splash in Southern California before shaking up a whole generation of future skateboarders around the world.
The Slip-on will know its hour of glory in 1982, thanks to the movie"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" where we see Sean Penn wearing this model. For the record, the young Santa Monica actor was fan skateboarding, and suggested to the production team that his character should wear VANS. VANS sent Universal some Slip-Ons, including a new version inspired by the drawings skateboarders made on their own pairs: the Checkerboard.
With the success of the film, the brand's revenues doubled in 1982.
40 years later, the VANS Slip-On Checkerboard is a staple in the catalog and the Old Skool is still the most popular model in the VANS line. It is now available in more than 50 different colors and has established itself as a must-have fashion accessory on par with the Converse All-Star.
Crisis and return to skateboarding
Despite a dark period between 1984 and 1987 when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, VANS finally managed to pay off its debts and get back on track. After having strayed into worlds as varied as running and parachute jumping (!), VANS returned to its first love.
Paul Van Doren, who had been sidelined for a while, returned as president in place of his brother and froze his salary, as well as that of his employees, for the next 3 years. VANS cuts all expenses and saves on everything except product quality.
Despite the dramatic loss of ground (in 1987, the Bones Brigade was skating with Jordans on their feet), VANS revived itself thanks to the skateboard market.
In 1988, the first true VANS Signature Pro Model was a hit: the VANS Steve Caballero. They became one of the brand's biggest successes with their 1992 variant, the Half Cab.
The same year, VANS was successful again and was bought by an investment fund for 74 million dollars. For the first time in 21 years, the Van Dorens are no longer at the helm.
In the years that followed, between 1990 and 2000, VANS set out to reclaim its crown in the world of Skate and surfing.
With ups and downs (nearly 1500 layoffs in 1995 following relocations), VANS continues its rise in the world of skate shoes and sneakers.
The legendary VANS Warped Tour was born in 1995. This music and extreme sports festival will crisscross the US for 24 years and will see the greatest skateboarders and BMX pros perform.
In 1996, building on their exponential success in Skate and BMX, the company decided to expand the brand into new extreme sports. TheVans Triple Crown Series" events will attract a new audience of riders surfers, wakeboarders, snowboarders and motocrossers.
The same year, VANS launches the first of its many collab' which will make a big noise: VANS x Supreme. Still in 1996, sales of VANS Snowboots increased by 6,000 units to over 110,000!
VANS Apparel and Skateparks
It was not until 1997 that the VANS Apparel line was born. This diversification was initially anecdotal, but received a major boost in 1999 when the merger with Pacific Sunwear (and its distribution network of 321 stores) marked the birth of VanPac: the division dedicated to children's and teenagers' clothing inspired by the skate culture.
In 1999, VANS opened its skatepark indoor store in Orange, California: a 400m² park that definitively reinforced the brand's credibility in its preferred universe.
The success of this first park inspired VANS to repeat the experience throughout the USA. In 2001, the brand already had 4 parks in California, as well as others in New Jersey, Virginia, Texas and Colorado.
It was not until 2019 that the OUTSIDE Skateshop, located in Le Tholonet (5 min. from Aix-en-Provence), could offer you the flagship models of the iconic brand, as well as their collection "VANS Skate ".
Pro range Skate or Vans Skate
Launched in 2012, the Pro range is a concentrate of technologies resulting from 40 years of experience in the field.
The shoes of the "Pro" or VANS Skate range are equipped with a polyurethane-based UltraCush HD insole, for a board feel as close as possible to your skateboard, while offering optimal shock absorption. DURACAP rubber reinforcements on the areas most exposed to wear offer unparalleled resistance. Finally, the mythical waffle soles are available in their WaffleCup version, the first vulcanized sole to be created (hot glued, more flexible and resistant).
Improvements far from being anecdotal for experienced skaters who appreciate the comfort and durability of the Pro range.
VANS at OUTSIDE Skateshop
OUTSIDE is a skateshop in Aix-en-Provence and one of the biggest skateshops in Europe.
Located only 5 minutes from the center of Aix and 30 kms from Marseille, we welcome you in a space of nearly 300 m² entirely dedicated to urban skateboarding: skateboard, longboard, cruiser, surfskate, scooter.
The store also offers a wide range of streetwear from the biggest brands in the skate culture: DC Shoes vANS, HUF, Globe, Primitive, Element, RIPnDIP, Dickies, Thrasher or Rip Curl.