Vans -A Shoe for the Masses

As you all may have noticed everyman and his dog......and also the dogs 12 puppies is now rocking Vans. The most popular shapes from the brand are most definitely the Era and Authentic. Very simple pump like shoe available in every colour in the rainbow and in various other patterns and shades. If you don’t own a pair your probably in the process of copping, if you’re not then you’re just in plain denial.



Whatever is said about the shoe there is no denying its a great purchase, the price alone is hard to complain about. Starting prices are coming in at around £20, some of you have been lucky to pick up for less. Some of the collab and limited edition shoes have been seen to go for prices in excess of £200.

On a real tho it’s good to see a brand like Vans being able to compete with the billions of pounds Nike and Adidas have got to play with.

Over the years I have accumulated a fair few pairs of Vans, each one providing me with my moneys worth of sneaker goodness. My favourite pair has to be my Vans Doren, purchased for £5 in a tiny skateshop about 4 years ago where the staff were mad friendly. Thank god my feet haven’t grown and thank you Mr Vans for using the best materials meaning these bad boys have lasted the distance, seeing numerous skate parks and dance floors along the way and still coming out smelling like roses (not quite).




A pair i've got my eyes all over, dropping winter 08.


Picture courtesy of 'The Feed'.

Anyway I just wanted to share with you some history of this amazing brand:

-Vans was founded on March 16, 1966 by Paul Van Doren, Jim Van Doren (Brother), Serge D'Elia (Investor based in Japan), and Gordy Lee.

-Launched in as a custom made skate shoe called 'Van Doren Rubber Company'. Basically you could roll into the factory and ask for your shoe in any colour. BIG!

-The slogan "Off the Wall" was introduced in 1974 and has been used up to the present day.

-In the 1980's Vans became popular with the breaking crews in the US and they also branched out into Tennis, a move that never really took off.

-The 90's saw the shoe become very popular within all the extreme sports and also touring the world with Rock and Punk bands.

-Over the years the brand has collaborated with Supreme, W)Taps, Marc Jacobs, Kaws to name but a few.