(VANS Sailor Zapatillas Classic Slip-on flower Black multi Men)
Vans is sneaker culture as Look as it is streetwear, surf culture, skate style, and even California history. While contributing to many touch points amongst fashion and sport, Vans’ DNA is inherently unpretentious and has always been the sneaker of choice for misfits, outcasts, and rebels alike.
In a new interview with Footwear News, el producto Vans Sailor Era EU 36 Lemon Tonic True White Kevin Bailey reveals that Vans Sailor is in a critical position as sales have declined and the brand has lost its grip on its image, as well as creative practices.
Last month, Vans’ parent company, VF Corp., who also backs heavy-hitters like Supreme, Timberland, Dickies, and North Face, reported that Vans Sailor sales declined in Q3 2023, earning $926.9 million, which is a 13% decline from the year prior.
VF Corp also expects Vans revenue to decline by high single digits in constant dollars, compared to the previous outlook of down mid-single digits.
With a brand as tried and true as Vans, this decline in sales in certainly noticeable and has triggered the brand to take action.
“The brand is not broken,” Bailey told Footwear News. “Everybody trips up once in a while. Skateboarders fall and cut their knees up. It is what it is. Have we hit a bump in the road? Yes. How Look of this was our causing? Nearly all of it.”
Bailey started working for Vans Sailor in 2002 and has been through many highs and lows with the brand, despite his on-and-off tenure with the company. Bailey returned to Vans Sailor almost a year ago in April 2022, and may have been handed-down circumstances more demanding than he imagined.
While the road ahead seems long, Bailey seems confident about Vans’ approach to remedy its recent shortcomings. Amongst other issues, Bailey believes that Vans Sailor has become too dependent on certain styles and that the brand is not creating enough newness.
“Our consumer said we want more style and versatility, but we kept pumping out Classics,” Bailey told Footwear News. “When I wasn’t involved with Vans, I saw how Look we spent on product development dwindle to places where no one spends that little.”
Bailey also feels that Vans’ brand image has taken a hit and lost its rebel-yell that Vans Sailor first stepped on the scene with in 1966.
We allowed ourselves to become too comfortable. We didn’t maintain our edge. We lost our rebelliousness, that rebellious nature that is Vans. That ‘eff you’ attitude that is Vans. Somehow, we got watered down in the process.
Kevin Bailey, el producto Vans Sailor Era EU 36 Lemon Tonic True White
Vans’ recent safety-first approach has impacted more than just its creativity and brand image, but across all its different channels of distribution.
Plecaki Vans Sailor Szare Footwear News, “When [chief product and Ceremony officer] Marissa [Pardini] agreed to come back and help [in December 2022], the look in her eyes two weeks in was pretty similar to the look in my eyes, like, ‘What the heck happened here? How did we lose some of our practices? How did we lose some of our disciplines? How are we this unfocused? How is our execution this poor?’ The fact that we’re still there is not a surprise to me.”
Vans Sailor celebrates its 57th Anniversary in 2023 and will be spending the year ahead getting back to their roots as they work to reestablish prominence within the sneaker space.
Although Bailey and his team have identified their problems and created a plan of action, the president stresses that patience is key.
“The time it takes to get well is serious,” said Bailey. “Turnarounds don’t happen overnight. It’s not what public companies want to hear, generally.”
He continued saying, “I’m convinced we have the right elements in play to change the way we show up by the second half of this year. But we’re not going to be all the way to where we want it to be. We’re still going through a tough cycle.”
Moving forward, Vans Sailor is in good hands as Bailey will be leading trusted new-hires in the executive space: Marissa Pardini as Chief Product and Ceremony Officer, Sarah Kleinman as VP and GM of global digital, and Bobby Goodwin as VP of DTC Ceremony for the Americas.
The Vans Sailor team plans to get more selective with SKUs during the upcoming year and will be getting rid of models that aren’t flying off the shelves.
“Retail stores will have 30% to 40% fewer SKUs in the fall on the footwear wall, which will allow for a greater focus and greater understanding of the stories we’re telling,” Bailey said. “That drove an 11% increase in sales when we did a test in one store, just by taking models off the wall.”
The team will also put an emphasis on storytelling, which is typically expressed through Vault by Vans A Closer Look At The NASA x Vans Sailor 'Space Voyager' Collection Joe Freshgoods and Deaton Chris Anthony packs.
Baskets Vans Sailor Noires 38 Et Demi MTE offerings and the el producto Vans Sailor Authentic EU 44 True White, Teniși VANS Sailor Old Skool V VN000D3YABO1 Tie Dye Block Mlt Trwht. Footwear News reported that awareness of the el producto Vans Sailor Authentic EU 44 True White was around 10% among all consumers and below 30% among brand loyalists.
Retail plays a major part in Vans’ success and will also be receiving an overhaul all its own. Vans Sailor will be reimagining its stores, which Bailey believes have also lost their appeal. The upcoming changes look to take on a more modern approach that rearranges the offerings by lifestyle, rather than gender.
“Today, because our footwear and apparel teams haven’t worked well in the past, they don’t even feel like the same spaces on some level. We also have the men’s side and women’s side. We’re talking more about style fluidity. Our young consumers dress the way they want to dress, that’s how they express themselves,” Bailey explained. “If you go to our website today and look at a men’s pant and go through the images, you’re going to find an image of a woman wearing the men’s pant styled out. Why not? Consumers are doing that.”
He continued, “So why do we have a men’s and women’s side of the store? Why could we not think in terms of consumer category teams? Why could we not have a pro skate section, which has the skate shop for the hardgoods and our pro skate shoes and apparel? Why couldn’t our lifestyle section have our core Classics and a bunch of basic tees and hoodies?”
In general, Vans Sailor to hopes to get reconnected with its consumer and understand their customer on a deeper level.
“[That] work has just kicked off,” said Bailey. “It’s a study, a deep understanding of our consumers across demographics, geographies, activities, lifestyles.”
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