How Vans Skated Past A Big Retail Milestone

Vans, the highly popular, eternally youthful skater footwear brand, hit a major milestone last year: It eclipsed The North Face juggernaut as apparel giant VF’s top-selling brand. The 51-year-old Vans saw sales hit $2.3 billion in 2016, after years of work expanding the brand’s appeal beyond teenage skateboarders. It did that by being selective about where its products are distributed and also by leveraging one of the biggest assets VF brings to its stable of labels: tech. And Vans has been careful to use those advances in the service of the brand rather try to change its personality. Take Vans’ upcoming launch of a major new line, the UltraRange. The shoe, which hits stores this summer, features light cushioning and mesh to make it breathable, responding to what Vans’ athletes want. And a few years ago, Vans launched the All Weather Mountain line, with water-repelling and weatherized materials to make the shoes more resistant to snow and rain. Those were technologies that VF developed and that outdoorsy brand Timberland, another VF company, also taps into. Read more at Fortune.