Josh Sims speaks with Steve Van Doren about Vans’ successful focus on the basics and "just being a cool, native southern Californian youth-culture brand".
Van Doren describes their positioning:
"Some brands are just associated with certain lifestyles. We’re more West Coast than East Coast, which has tended to be strong for Converse. We’re more solo sports than we are team sports, which the big athletics brands like Nike tap in to. We’re more rock and punk than we are hip-hop, which other brands, again, tap in to. But what we certainly are is skateboarding."
Of course, folks like The Pack and Lupe Fiasco are making hip hop a bit friendlier to skateboarding and to Vans.
Official Site:
Vans
Related ProhipHop Coverage:
Hip Hop on the Vans Warped Tour
Got My Vans On: Summer Single Of The Year?
Skateboards & Hip Hop: Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell Williams, RBK DGK
