Vans Co-Founder James Van Doren Passes
Often times, we forget that decades of work by real people are behind the brands we ride and wear. We were reminded of this on October 5, when Steve Jobs passed away after a long battle with cancer. The following week, and closer to home, in the BMX realm, we also lost an industry pioneer and visionary: James Van Doren, co-founder of Vans shoes.
The Los Angeles Times ran a comprehensive obituary honoring Mr. Van Doren. It is a classic tale of “bootstrap” entrepreneurship in America. James and his brother, Paul (along with two other co-founders) built the business by being as close to the customer as is humanly possible–taking shoe orders from customers in their Anaheim, CA store in the morning, “building” the shoes, and having them ready for pickup that afternoon.
Checkboard Vans were a staple of early 1980s life (in several colors and configurations), as we all rushed directly from seeing Fast Times at Ridgemont High to our local tracks, and talked up the Spicoli fashion vibe. Vans definitely got a “contact high” off the hit film, and was doing numbers never before seen.
By 1984, fickle fashion being what it is, America moved on, and less expensive foreign competitors were breathing down their neck. James had been running Vans since 1976, and the company was headed toward Chapter 11 reorganization, and a management shakeup that would see Paul Van Doren come out of semi retirement to run the company. All the while, the Vans brand was strong in the action sports that had always been loyal–BMX Racing among them.
After leaving Vans, James went on to reinvent himself as a General Contractor, building things, and helping those in need where he could.
As for the company he co-founded 45 years ago, Vans remains a strong brand, and has long made the jump beyond
its action sports roots into the main stream. After changing hands several times, once the Van Doren family ended its involvement in 1988, the company is part of the VF Corporation portfolio of brands (Which also include The North Face and Timberland).
James Van Doren was 72.
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Photo: LATimes.com
