Vans Off the Wall
If you missed Part1 click here for the company's early history. 1995 to PresentIn 1996 Steve (the founder's son) Van Doren brought Vans into the Warped Tour- marrying his own goal of a nationwide amateur skate tour to Kevin Lyman's Punk Rock tour.There was a natural synergy in this hook up, given both movements' mostly Southern California roots. The Van's Warped Tour continues today, but is not purely punk anymore, with the 2011 version featuring acts such as, D.R.U.G.S and Gatsby's American Dream along with the punky Demerit and Good Guys in Black. Van's went public in 2001 and early on until around 2004 the company dabbled in non-traditional (from Vans perspective) shoe models, but have since returned to the classic "Vans Look" that worked in years past. Of course this return to Vans roots may have at least been partially influenced by the release of the Lords of Dogtown.
It seems the company since its inception bounced from one marketing bonanza to another. But this is perhaps too simplistic of a view, because at it's core Vans was always about one thing: the customer. This sounds like a theoretical statement, but it plays out on a practical level, as well, with Vans.... whereas the Nikes and Adidas of the world spend heavily on R and D and branding, Vans has from Day 1, simply asked customers what they want,and produced it. In its early days, the company stayed ahead of the competition by producing bespoke speakers, and using the data from what customers were asking for in their customized shoes to develop prouction line products. Vans has thirved when taking direction from the customer, and in the 1980s when it tried to go the Nike route, and tell the customer what he or she wants, the company went (temporarily) bankrupt. Recent VenturesIn 2010 Vans teamed up with Aquabats to make some cool kids shoes. And these Vans Off the Wall shoes are really sweet.
Of course we like the traditional Vans kids shoes too. The "Dudish" Vans Slip Ons are just as fashionable (and comfortable) today as they were when Spicoli introduced us to them in Fast Times. 
And your author is just as enamoured with that classic black and white checkered look today as he was when he was a Junior in High School in 1984, if that matters to you!Stars are, are of course, out and about in Vans footwear, most notably (pictures hard to find for some reason) the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and U2 band members as well as examples such
Daria Werbowy takes Vans into a more formal setting in this pic, though we are probably really a bit too conservative to agree with the style clash. 
Still the concept is clear: a "clasic" look never really is out of fashion even when it isn't currently fashionable.I mean, look at these California Styles..... I think Vans Off the Wall really risks a lot when they try to change anything. As the saying goes: "if it an't broke, don't fix it".... and there is no other shoe manufacturer to which this phrase more aptly applies!
Here you can buy some of our favorite Vans but check out our coupon page to make sure you take advantage of any current special offers. These were just some of the models that caught our eye, once you click through you can see the hundreds of of other models on offer...
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Justin Bieber (shown here sporting the ultra-cool and modern VulcVans).
