HISTORY OF VANS

vans started in a small shop in Anaheim selling shoes with a resilient rubber
sole that skaters adopted and turned into must-have footwear for doing kick
flips and ollies.
The Orange County-born brand, now headquartered in Cypress, has come
a long way since it was founded in the mid-1960s, and financial reports
released this week show just how far.
In just 10 years, the action-sports brand has gone from about $320 million
in revenue to $2 billion, a growth rare in an industry that has seen its share
of downfalls in recent years. The latest figures put Vans on top of the food
chain for the action-sports industry, surpassing surfwear giants like
Quiksilver and Billabong.
“You look at it, you know it, but it’s still hard to get your head around it,”
Doug Palladini, vice present and general manager of Vans North America,
said of the latest revenue figure. “It’s surreal sometimes to imagine us at
this scale. We’re by no means done. We see a ton of work ahead of us.”
But Vans success wasn’t without a few wipeouts along the way.
Ups and downs
They forgot to put cash in the register.
It was opening day at the first Anaheim shop in 1966, and 16 customers
showed up to get shoes from the new Van Doren Rubber Co.
The owners – brothers Paul and James Van Doren, along with Gordon Lee
and Serge D’Elia – had worked so hard to get the manufacturing side of the
business running, they didn’t even think about having change available for
their customers. So they asked them to pick out a color and style, come
back to get their order later in the day, and return another day to pay for the
shoes.
Every one of them returned to honor their debt.
From there, business boomed. Men’s shoes sold for a whopping $4.49, and
women’s went for $2.29.
While the shoes became an underground favorite among the growing group
of skaters hitting the streets and empty swimming pools, the brand didn’t
hit its stride until Vans were featured in the 1982 cult-classic film “Fast
Times at Ridgemont High.” Actor Sean Penn – playing stoner Jeff Spicoli
– sported a pair of black-and-white checkerboard Vans. The film
appearance introduced the shoe to a mainstream market.
But the company’s fast times soon came to a halt. In 1984, Vans filed for
bankruptcy protection.
“It was extremely hard. My dad told everyone ‘I can’t give you raises.’ He
had to have people bring in their own pens because he couldn’t afford to
buy them,” said Steve Van Doren, vice president of events and promotions
and son of co-founder Paul. “When we got out of it, we were a better
company and focused on what we do – footwear.”
In 1988, Vans was sold to a private equity firm for $75 million, and it went
public by 1991. Things got tough in the mid-’90s, when Vans closed its
Orange manufacturing plant and laid off 900 workers, moving its
production overseas.
By the next year, Vans left its home in Anaheim for a new headquarters in
Santa Fe Springs.
Paul Van Doren had hope. He used to tell investors: “Vans is a fire hydrant.
It’s just dripping. When you open the valves up, we have potential,” his
son recalled.
The executives at VF Corp. took notice, and in 2004 bought Vans for about
$400 million. Three years later, Vans moved back to Orange County to a
new headquarters in Cypress.
Steve Rendle, senior vice president of Americas for VF, said the umbrella
company looks for authentic, active-based lifestyle brands that can “build
strong connections with their customers.”
“Over the past 10 years, Vans has demonstrated tremendous ability to drive
significant growth while remaining relevant and true to the brand’s roots.
Steve Van Doren said the brand’s success couldn’t have been achieved
without the parent company, he said.
“We come up with great ideas, and they listen to what we have to say,” he
said. “We stick to our roots.”
More than skate
VF, based in North Carolina, is a $12 billion apparel and footwear company
that has more than 30 brands under its portfolio. Its four largest brands are
The North Face, Vans, Timberland and Wrangler.
The North Face brings in the most revenue, at $2.3 billion in 2014, an 11
percent increase from the previous year.
Vans comes in second, posting $2 billion in revenue, up 17 percent from
the year before. In the fourth quarter, revenues were up 20 percent in the
Americas region and up more than 50 percent in the Asia Pacific region.
Part of the success since VF bought Vans has been the ability to take the
brand worldwide.
“We have an incredible fan base, and that fan base has really become
global,” Palladini said. “That’s a fundamental shift since they acquired us.
We were a California brand, and now we’re a global brand.”
While Vans has been able to see growth year after year for the past decade,
other big action-sports brands have struggled.
Surfwear brands Quiksilver and Billabong are still on a rebound, with both
companies in recent years undergoing leadership changes, decreased
revenue and divestment of smaller brands to refocus on core brands.
Quiksilver, based in Huntington Beach and long hailed as the biggest of
the action-sports brands, showed a revenue drop to $1.57 billion last year
from $1.81 billion in 2013, mostly from its three main brands: Quiksilver,
Roxy and DC. All three brands saw a decrease in performance.
Australia-based Billabong, which has its North American headquarters in
Irvine and went through a bidding war in recent years, reported about $1
billion in revenue in 2014.
Action sports industry analyst Jeff Harbaugh, who has written a column
called Market Watch since 1995, said much of Vans’ success has to do with
the brand staying relevant.
“The thing they’ve done really, really well is that they have somehow kept
the brand cool, not only to old customers, but to new customers as well,”
he said. “That’s part of the secret sauce. Not many businesses have been
able to do that in this industry, and they have been able to pull that off.”
DIVERSIFICATION
Vans over the years has become more than just about skate, diversifying its
portfolio to include a strong surf presence with the sponsorship of the Vans
Triple Crown in Hawaii and the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.
It also has a strong roster of team surfers, including the Gudauskas brothers
from San Clemente – Pat, Dane and Tanner – and have been able to tap
into the retro, hipster crowd with riders like Alex Knost of Newport Beach.
The brand also has a strong presence in snow and moto, and the popular
Vans Warp Tour taps into the music scene.
Vans has increased its retail business. In 2013, it announced plans to open
200 more company-owned stores by the end of 2016.
In 2011, Vans owned 310 stores around the world. Today, it has 340 stores
in the U.S., 22 in Mexico and nine in Canada. Southern California is home
to about 50 stores, with about two dozen in Orange County. It employs
about 8,000 people worldwide, 6,600 of them in North America.
Steve Van Doren said he’s blown away any time he’s in a place like Italy
or Australia and sees people wearing shoes from the company his father
helped start in 1966.
“You just see Vans on people’s feet, I have to hit myself,” he said.
Palladini said the company took a moment to celebrate, but it’s back to
business as usual.
“We’re by no means happy, pleased, done, or satisfied,” he said.

HOW ARE VANS SHOES MADE?

Ever wondered how your favourite pair of Vans made it from the factory
floor to your feet? We explore Vans’ time-tested manufacturing process,
which sees every shoe crafted by up to 450 pairs of hands.
Vans’ history stretches back to 1966 when brothers Paul and Jim Van
Doren – along with friends Gordy and Serge – opened the doors to the
Van Doren Rubber Company at 704 East Broadway in Anaheim,
California. Paul’s 20-year career at Randy’s, a shoe factory in his native
Boston, had given him the industry know-how needed to build his own
shoe brand from the ground up.
Vans’ original manufacturing and fulfilment process was simple:
employees made rubber-soled shoes each morning and sold them
straight out of the company’s Anaheim factory in the afternoon.
Over the next 30 years, Vans shoes were made out of several factories in
California until the company’s manufacturing operations were moved to
China and Vietnam in the late ‘90s.
 How Shoes are Made.

The Classic Van Vulcanized shoe

 Vans Checker board vamp printing

 Vulcanized shoe machine – Foxing tape extruder in
action

 Vulcanized shoe machine – Foxing tape extruder

 Vulcanized shoe machine – Foxing

tape extruder – making Vans Tape
 Vulcanized shoe construction – Trimming Tape with
hot knife

 Vulcanized shoe toe cap -Converse

style

 Vulcanized shoe toe cap -Converse style

trimming
 Rubber parts before they are vulcanized

 Foxing tape waiting for vulcanized shoe assemble

 Foxing tape – applying the shoe glue

 Foxing tape


 Vulcanized shoe construction –
Trimming Tape

Vulcanized shoe construction

 Vulcanized shoe sole pressing

 Vulcanized shoe sole pressing

 Vulcanized shoe oven

 Creating Vans Shoes
Vans is an American shoe company that specializes in skateboard
shoes. They have since branched out into general footwear and to
clothes as well. They are still known best for their vibrant skateboard
shoes.
Cotton Suppliers
One of the main resources used to create Vans shoes is cotton.
cotton is used to make the wall of the shoe and often the laces as well.
one of the main suppliers of cotton for Vans is a plantation and farm
area outside of Islamabad, Pakistan.
Picture: a cotton farm in Pakistan

This cotton farm in Pakistan is where the cotton is farmed and picked in
order to start the Vans journey. The cotton that is harvested is what
makes up the main part of the shoe.

Yarn Manufacturer

This yarn manufacturing company in Taiyuan is where the cotton

is spun into the exact cotton material on the tops and sides of the van
shoes.
Leather Production

This is where much of the leather used in making vans shoes is

sourced from. Farms in India grow and harvest leather from cows, then
export it to places including our assembly plants.
Picture: Leather being stored in stacks new delhi Nepal
Textile Factory
The textiles and patterns used in the design and creation of Vans
shoes are produced largely in factories such as the one here in Seoul,
South Korea. These plants use cotton from the cotton suppliers along
with designs from the headquarters.

a textile factory located in Seoul, South Korea

Shoe Manufacturing 1
This is one of the many factories across China and other parts of
Asia that are responsible for the production and assembly of Vans shoes.
The shoes are made by hand on a large scale then shipped to the
headquarters.
Picture: Workers sewing textiles of the shoes to the frame of the shoes
Phoung tran hunghao china
Shoe Manufacturing 2
This is another factory that produces Vans footwear. This factory
is located in Hong Kong and has about 1,000 employees working there.
It is in a similar position to the previous one, gathering all the natural
resources, assembling the finished product and exporting it to the
headquarters in California. Hongkong shenzen
Chemical Supplier

The Da Yeon Corporation produces the adhesive which make it

possible to put most parts of the shoe together. Metallic yarn
Region South Korea, Category Minerals & Metallurgy - Steel Wire
Link Tool South Korea Minerals & Metallurgy - South Korea Steel Wire
Company Tags Metallic Yarn
Paper Industry
Nine Dragons Paper industry is where the shoes inner part is made
by the recycled materials. Nine Dragons Paper Limited is a publicly
listed paper manufacturing company in Mainland China, engaging in the
manufacturing of containerboard products which include linerboard,
duplex board as well as pulp. Its CEO and largest shareholder is Ms.
Zhang Yin.
Leather Industry
The Fujian Tenghao Leather Industry Company is where the
Polyurethane Meriskin (Collar Lining) is produced.

Rubber Manufacturer
The Zeon Rubber Company is where the synthetic rubber is
produced to create the bottom of the shoe.

Synthetic Rubber
Synthetic is produced all over the world by most countries since
natural rubber is so scarce. Vans uses a combination of natural and
synthetic rubber in the soles and sides of their shoes, for a variety of
effects and reasons. Bankok Thailand
Natural Rubber
Natural rubber is found and cultivated in abundance in Indonesia
and the pacific islands. Vans sources most of its natural rubber from
these nations, such as Indonesia and transports the resource to the shoe
manufacturer.
Picture: A storing facility for a natural rubber farm
Jakarta Indonesia
Footwear Factory
Henan Hongfu Footwear Co. is where the shoe is completely
finished and packaged.
Textile Printing
Haian Textile Printing and Dyeing Co. Is where the printed fabrics
and materials are produced once the shoe is put together.

Label Making
The Label Making Co. is in charge of labeling all of the individual
shoe boxes and stamping them with all sorts of advertisements and
logos. It also helps make the journey to the distribution center easier.

Distribution Center
The Vans Distribution Center in San Fransisco CA is in charge of
getting Vans distributed to all the stores and companies necessary. This
is the end of the supply chain, as the go on to be sold and consumed.
California Headquarters

This is the headquarters of the entire Vans business operation. this

is where most of the top, most senior staff have their offices and much of
general management occurs. Shoes are also designed here and the
designs are sent to the textile mills and the manufacturing plants.
American Distribution Center

This is the central distribution center for the entirety of the United
States for Vans products. Kansas City is one of three major Missourian
cities where many large companies have distribution facilities. This is
because of the trucking and general infrastructure of the area is ideal for
getting things all over the United States, and it is centrally located in the
country as well.
Picture: The distribution center in Kansas
Countries
The products are sold through more than 250 company-owned stores in
the United States, as well as through independent retailers. Vans
products are also available internationally in approximately 70 countries,
sold through a network of subsidiaries, distributors and foreign offices.
Vans employs more than 350 people at its corporate office in Cypress,
California.
The countries that vans shoes operate in are: USA, Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Poland,
Spain, Switzerland, UK, Germany and Australia.
Vans shoes, though, are sold in more than 170 countries globally
Vans has increased its retail business. In 2013, it announced plans to
open 200 more company-owned stores by the end of 2016.
In 2011, Vans owned 310 stores around the world. Today, it has 340
stores in the U.S., 22 in Mexico and nine in Canada. Southern California
is home to about 50 stores, with about two dozen in Orange County. It
employs about 8,000 people worldwide, 6,600 of them in North America.

METHOD
WHAT MATERIAL ARE VANS MADE OF?
One of Vans shoes’ signature features is their vulcanised rubber
construction, which is praised by skaters for its superior grip and support
while on the board.
Vulcanised rubber is unique in that it goes through two stages of
‘baking’: rubber is cured by heat and compressed, then a second ‘steam
baking’ takes place after assembly to ensure a durable yet easy-to-break-
in shoe.
The original method of vulcanisation, which is still the most common, is
to mix sulphur with natural rubber before heating it. The sulphur
changes the chemical composition of the rubber, creating crosslinks
between polymers to make the resulting material stronger and more
long-lasting.
One of the earliest uses of vulcanised rubber took place in 1876 when a
company in the UK began making rubber-soled plimsolls designed for
croquet. Since its inception in the late 1800s, vulcanisation has become a
widely used technique, and most rubber products sold today are
vulcanised.
Synthetic materials like EVA foam and lightweight nylon can’t be used
in vulcanised shoes as they tend to melt during the vulcanising process.
That’s why fabrics like canvas and suede – which can withstand the high
heat during manufacturing – are used as uppers for Vans shoes.
WHAT IS VANS' MANUFACTURING PROCESS?
Today, Vans makes between 70 and 85 million pairs of shoes every
year, with every pair worked on or inspected by up to 450 people.
Although operations are done on a vastly larger scale than they were in
the early days, the signature manufacturing process has remained much
the same.

Each pair of Vans shoes goes through a five-step production

process:

1. The first stage of vulcanising takes place at the rubber room, the
birthplace of each sneaker’s signature waffle sole. Here, rubber is
cured by heat before being compressed.
2. Shoe soles are ‘hole-punched’ out of the compressed rubber.
3. Soles are pressed into a criss-cross shape to create the iconic
waffle sole.
4. Shoes move into the assembly room, where the uppers and
detailing of the shoes are selected and applied. Most of the shoe’s
 appearance is created at this stage, where a stitched canvas or
suede panel is tightly fitted around a mould to create a sturdy upper
and detailing is applied. Three rubber strips called ‘foxing' are then
applied over the upper and sole before the excess rubber outsole is
trimmed and the Vans logo is placed at the heel.
5. Shoes are lacquered before entering the vulcanising oven, where
the ideal heat, pressure and humidity conditions harden the shoe to
complete its construction.

Once the manufacturing process is complete, the shoes are ready to be

boxed or can be printed onto, depending on the style.

These were all vulcanized, all made by hand. Volcanisation is a

method of bonding the rubber to the uppers. They cook the rubber in
huge ovens and it creates this amazing bond, which creates like a tacky
sticky rubber and an incredible bond between the upper and the sole.
They still Vulcanize but the methods have changed a lot, the raw
material has changed and so it's a different shoe, really. This is pure
crepe rubber, whereas a lot of companies now add fillers which means
it's a lot weaker and inflexible

In the Vans vulcanized shoemaking process, the rubber

shoe outsole parts are assembled onto the lasted upper before the rubber
is completely cured. With the sole attached, the entire shoe must be
heated in a vulcanizing oven. The shoe must be heated to around
110˚C for 80 minutes. The heat required to vulcanize the rubber sole
will melt nylon and polyester fabrics. Also, certain types of foam,
like EVA and PE, will also get damaged by the heat. This can limit
the material choices for footwear designers. Uppers must be made of
heat-resistant materials like suede, leather, and cotton canvas with metal
hardware.
Vulcanizing equipment

The vulcanized shoemaking process must be made in a specific factory

equipped with lots of special machines. The shoemaking equipment
required for vulcanizing is very different from the equipment needed to
make cold cement shoes. A shoe factory will usually specialize in one
process or the other, you will rarely find both vulcanized and cold
cement processes inside the same factory.

The upper stitching and construction of a Vans vulcanized shoe are

nearly the same as a cold cement shoe. The inside reinforcements for
the toe and heel counters are made of thin rubber sheets instead
of plastic. Again, due to the high temperature required for the vulcanized
rubber, any kind of plastic or PVC logos or trim treatments must be
avoided when designing a vulcanized shoe. The lining of a Vans shoes is
made from lightweight cotton canvas.

While the uppers are being stitched, the rubber components for the
vulcanized sole unit must be prepared. The rubber components have a
shelf life of only a few days. If the rubber parts are made and set aside,
the rubber will begin to oxidize, partially cure, and will not cure
properly when the shoes are being vulcanized.