There were missteps, especially at the start. “I look at the first collection I ever built, and there’s some crazy wild shoes,” says Pozzebon. “They Adidas Superstar Mujer Negras don’t even look like Vans shoes.” They were too technical, too experimental. “There was, like, ventilation through the bottom.”
For many young sneakerheads at the time, Vans had, again, lost its way. The new looks were, at best, irrelevant, Adidas Swift Run Mujer and, at worst, downright corny.
But that first collection also included the key to Vans' eventual success. “We took a bunch of classic silhouettes and rebuilt them, trying to make them as close as they could be to the original USA specs.” Nike Free Run 2.0 Dam The new riffs on the old models were only allowed to be sold to specialty stores, not relegated to the back of Vans’ own shops or mass distributors. “That was the first beginnings of people starting to—within the company even—look at the old stuff.”
Not www.rotulosalbir.es long after, in 2003, the Vault collection was conceived, a high-end take on the classics designed to catch Nike Air Max 2017 Dam the attention of influencers and boutiques alike. “That’s 14 years ago,” says Pozzebon. “So as you start to win that over, it eventually trickles down to where retro is as popular as it is, and people look to Vans as something authentic www.rostfriaarbeten.se for it.”
“They were harvesting relevancy—putting in the work years and years ago to ensure future success,” says WGSN trend forecaster Trunzo.There was another element at play, too. In 2004, Vans was acquired for $396 million in cash by North Adidas ZX 700 Mujer Carolina-based VF Corp., which also owns The North Face, Timberland, and Nautica (to name a few). “I was in China that day and got a call saying, ‘We’ve been bought! By a company called VF,’” Van Doren says. “OK,” he asked himself at the time, “what’s Nike Air Force 1 Dam that mean?”
Though so many stories go the other way, in this case, it meant good things. One of the OG Adidas Hamburg Mujer apparel giants—it was founded in 1899—VF has an impressive reputation, especially when you consider the pall that hangs over holding companies and conglomerates in many consumers’ minds. “VF Corp. is really good at being a steward and a Nike Air Max 90 Dam parent of companies,” says Trunzo. “I feel like every brand in their portfolio gets the proper sort of attention and marketing dollars—and the proper opportunity to explore their heritage, be authentic, and grow.”