Vans: Skating on air - Case Study Example

VANS: SKATING ON AIR al Affiliation) Key Words: Vans, Doren, Schoenfeld Paul Van Doren commenced Vans in 1966 with his male sibling James and two partners. Steeped in the methods of footwear manufacturing, Van Doren set out to make the most durable and inexpensive casual deck footwear in the market. The outcome was a rubber-soled footwear that was strengthened with mud and was two times as broad as those made by the competition. The top canvas was double-stitched, and the whole footwear was washable.

At charges extending from $2.49 to $4.99 a two, Vans footwear were, as asserted by one commerce observer, “built like a battleship.” Promoting the shops was firmly a grassroots activity, organised nearly solely by Van Doren with the help of his children. The 1970s escorted in a signal of anti-establishment, anti-Vietnam, anti-war sentiment amidst American youth. It was inside this context that—in a dejected locality of Santa Monica, California (a location named “Dogtown” by its inhabitants)—a gifted assembly of disenfranchised teenagers started conceiving a new method of skateboarding that finally completed up redefining the sport.

This assembly of self-described misfits (the “Z-Boys”) took dignity in impelling the restricts of accepted skateboarding, evolving the first to duplicate convoluted surfing proceeds on asphalt park embankments and the top lips of empty bathing pools. In 1975, the Z-Boys had overridden the first nationwide skate affray in Del Mar, California, wearing equivalent azure Vans deck footwear and T-shirts inscribed with their group title, Zephyr. Their innovative proceeds swamped both competitors and referees, who had no classes for assessing their style.

In the phrases of Zephyr constituent Tony Alva, it was clear “we were a step above. Word quickly spread and skaters around the country began emulating the Z-Boy techniques. A number of skateboarding magazines were launched and dozens of outdoor skate parks began opening all over North America. Skate was on the verge of becoming a $400 million business and Vans, whose sales had risen rapidly, appeared to be ideally positioned to take advantage of its close affiliation with the radical sports.

By 2002, Vans was actively endorsing over 600 athletes across its entire seven of its core sports. As Schoenfeld explained, the company’s affiliation with these high profile athletes not only built brand credibility, it also enabled Vans to build bridges to new customer markets. ReferenceJaeger, A. (2009). Fashion makers, fashion shapers: the essential guide to fashion by those in the know. New York: Thames & Hudson