Vans: How Hip-hop Became the Focus of an Iconic Skateboarding Brand
Vans.
The popular shoe of hipsters and skaters alike.
Before the phrase “Damn, Daniel” was ever a thing, Vans were were always a good, affordable option for anyone who wasn’t into Nikes or Adidas. Plus, they always had really dope colorways (including the iconic checkerboard Vans, which are immediately recognizable).
But Vans wasn’t always a profitable company.
For a long time, they struggled, and the iconic shoe brand was on life support until they leaned into a culture that would bring them over the $1B mark: Hip-hop.
That’s right. Like many other brands, rap culture was able to revive it and give it room to grow. Y’all know the drill, let’s talk Vans.
In 1966…
Paul Van Doren started a company in Anaheim, California that made shoes with “vulcanized” rubber soles — a style that he perfected after working over two decades at a rubber company. Naturally, he would call his own company the Van Doren Rubber Company.
Reports say that on the first day, they sold 12 pairs and within a few years, they had an established presence in Anaheim for skaters who needed shoes with a thick soles while skateboarding.
Skateboarding Took Over California
Van Doren’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect because around the time he started the company,California culture shifted towards skateboarding.
Though So-Cal had always been synonymous with surfing in the 50s & 60s, many were looking for a land alternative, and because of that, by the 1970s, skateboarding had become a cultural staple in California, and America at large.
As that phenomenon grew, Vans sought out a new partner to help promote their shoes, and they found one in…
Tony Alva
Tony is the oldest professional skateboarder in the world and a pioneer of vertical skating (according to his website), and he was the epitome of what skate culture represented.
In 1974 he partnered with Vans on “The Era” — what many skateboarders recognize as the original skate shoe.
Between Tony Alva’s co-sign and Sean Penn wearing the checkerboard Vans in Fast Times in Ridgemont High, Vans was on an upward trajectory culturally and financially.
By the Eighties…
Skateboarding popularity had reached new heights, and Vans were firmly considered part of youth culture — so much so that when early hip-hop groups like the Beastie Boys, Kriss Kross, and NWA embraced skate culture, they could even be seen rocking Vans periodically in interviews and videos.
Fun fact: Eazy E was actually a skateboarder (as seen in the photos below, and as told by famed photographer Mike Miller)
But by 2003, Vans Was Struggling…
After a surge of success in the ’80s, things cooled out for Vans.
With skateboard culture declining in the mainstream, Vans was dealing with financial issues that led to store closures and future uncertainty. It was something they had dealt with once before, having experienced bankruptcy proceedings decades prior, but things were looking bleak until Hip-hop Made a cultural shift that ultimately led to a resurgence in popularity.
Around 2006…
Rap music was slowing shifting away gangsta rap towards a new sound.
At the time, the biggest markets for rap were New York, and Atlanta, by far, and Trap music was the dominant sound, but a slew of new artists were emerging onto the scene from the Midwest & West Coast wearing new streetwear brands like DGK, Zoo York, and Supreme — brands that all had skateboarding roots.
That’s When Lupe Fiasco Made An Anthem
Lupe Fiasco faced a crossroads in his career before reaching stardom.
Chill, The co-founder of his record label “1st & 15th,” had just been arrested on drug trafficking charges, which led to a question of what Lupe wanted to be known for in the long term.
Lupe and Chill both knew that the latter could get jammed up in court by anything that Lupe promoted on his records, and knowing that the association would eventually reach their label, Lupe pivoted,
That pivot led to one of his most famous records today: Kick, Push.
Kick Push arrived at a time when many American cities faced gentrification, and skateboarders were being pushed outside of parks and rec areas built for skateboarding (often for no good reason at all).
Like the youtube comment below says, Kick Push introduced a ton of Black youth to skateboard culture — one that many would assume they weren’t interested in.
Lupe’s arrival showed another side of hip-hop marked by comic book culture, anime, clothing brands like Bape, and sneakers like Vans.
Then The Bay took front and center…
“I’m walking through some of the grimiest parts of Oakland and I’m seeing kids on skateboards, that’s something you would never see before ‘Vans’ came out,” - Stunna, The Pack, New Your Times
While Lupe was having his breakout year, on the West Coast, a group from the Bay Area of California created a record that essentially changed the trajectory of Vans forever. That group called themselves The Pack, and the record they made? It was called Vans.
“Vans” quickly took over the airways with the really catchy hook “got my vans on and they look like sneakers” and just like that an entire movement began to spread from the Bay to the East Coast.
Because of “Vans,” Bay Area culture took the nation by storm.
Like with other cultural movements, people started adopt Bay area lingo, customs, and styles of dress. That included Vans. Because of the of the song, even people who weren’t from California or into skater culture started to buy them.
It was official.
Vans were now the shoe for cool kids — not to mention that the price for a standard pair of checkerboard Vans was half the price of a pair of Air Force Ones. After The Pack popularized Vans stores reported that it was hard to even keep them in stock, and in some cases sales rose by 20-30% alone.
So, Vans Focused On Hip-hop…
I suspect that the success of the song “Vans” by The Pack led the VF Corporation (owners of Vans) to take hip-hop more seriously.
Seeing vans penetrate urban markets and reach Black audiences made gave them incentive to create a stronger tie with the hip-hop community. That meant a new campaign.
Going back to their roots for a new campaign, Vans decided to create the “Off The Wall” collection and reached out to Lupe Fiasco (who helped usher in the skateboarding wave in hip-hop) and offered him his very own collection with Vans.
When asked about the collection by Hypebeast Lupe said:
“Over the past few years, Vans was a brand that I was wearing on a daily basis besides Dr. Martens. I would wear it privately and on stage. Once this opportunity has come up, I said to myself “why not? Since I am already wearing their shoes for myself, why not broaden up the whole experience with this brand.”
They Even Celebrated Iconic Artists
While working with Lupe, Vans continued to find other artists to collaborate with in hip-hop including Ice T, and Lil Wayne.
They reached out to Odd Future for co-branded sneakers in 2013 via the now defunct “Vans syndicate” brand, and two years later, they reached out to California native Tyler The Creator again. This time it was specifically for a solo deal that included several coveted releases before ending in 2015.
Vans is still leaning into Hip-hop today. They recently did a collab with A Tribe Called Quest in 2018 (a callback to their 90s hip-hop roots for the 25th anniversary of their album Midnight Marauders.
WHAT NOW?
Vans is still going strong — although sales data from the past few years has been mostly flat they’re making the right moves to stay relevant in culture.
Back in 2020, they launched the “This is Off The Walls” campaign featuring J.I.D. from Dreamville and I’m willing to be that they have more hip-hop collaborations like that on the way.
With skate culture and hip-hop culture still brothers in arms it’s safe to say that Vans will always have a place in the market and eventually they’ll be due for another “boom” in sales.
Best believe that with the right partner, right moment, etc. we’ll all be wearing Vans again (if you stopped, that is).
Until then, I might see if I can cop a few pair. Afterall, Summer is on the way.