Tasty Waves and Some Cool Vans Books
Vans rode a wave to international pop-culture mania in 1982 when Sean Penn wore a pair of checkerboard slip-on Vans sneakers in the film “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
But there’s a lot more to the Vans story than Penn talking up “some tasty waves and a cool buzz” in the “Fast Times” flick.
To prove its point, the skate footwear and apparel company, now owned by V.F. Corp., will publish a coffee-table book called “Vans: Off the Wall: Stories of Sole from Vans Original” and written by Doug Palladin. It chronicles the history of the company, which earned its fame from clothing the skateboard and rock crowd in California.
The hardback will be published in June by New York–based art-book company Abrams. Through oral interviews and pictures by celebrated photographers such as C.R. Stecyk, it chronicles the skate label from its origins in 1966 as a sneaker factory and store in Anaheim, Calif., to its sponsorship in the 1990s of the rock concert series “Vans Warped Tour.” The book will be shipped to stores starting June 1. It’s already available on Amazon.com.
