How they used to make ​’em: An authentic history of Vans Anaheim

There’s something lazy about the cliche that they don’t make things like they used to. Sure, lots of brands have to develop their products; original materials become obsolete, technology advances and tastes (thank the fashion gods) evolve. A cherished few though don’t abandon the classics, keeping things fresh but remaining staunchly authentic. Exhibit V: Vans.

Ever at the vanguard, the footwear legend has kept its cool through seven different decades of subcultures and youth movements, constantly reinventing but never abandoning its most enduring designs. This combination of heritage and current is the driving force behind the Vans Anaheim Factory Collection, an ongoing project which sees Vans reverse time and cook up its classics: the Authentic, Era, Old Skool, Sk8-Hi and Slip-On, using the original recipe of its Anaheim factory.

The series’ 2022 edition is a meticulous remake of the brand’s first ever style of shoe – once the Deck or Style 44, now called the Authentic – with three new variations throwing it back to the Anaheim days but with a fresh twist of Orange, California.

Anaheim, if you’re not a Cali Gurl, is a charter city in Orange County, primarily agricultural for its first century, it’s now a laid-back haven on the outskirts of LA. Vans parked up in 1966, when entrepreneurial brothers Paul and Jim Van Doren, along with partners Gordon Lee and Serge Delia, opened the Van Doren Rubber Company at 704 East Broadway, bringing vulcanised shoe soles to California for the first time.

“Vans is a unique brand,” the brand’s official archivist, Catherine Acosta, tells THE FACE over an apt Zoom backdrop of the original Anaheim Factory. ​“They were the first to set up on the West Coast rather than the East Coast, which is traditionally where vulcanised footwear had been.”

Strikingly, the Van Doren brothers pioneered a direct-to-consumer model. By sticking it to the middle man, a higher quality of shoe was suddenly affordable. ​“It was a big, big deal, and a detail that often gets overlooked,” Acosta says. ​“Their elevator pitch in 1966 was: we’re a manufacturer and retailer and we’re opening up our own stores.”

This quality manifested itself in the Authentic. While you’re more likely to find it on a skateboard than a sailboat these days, it was once made for slippery ships and was known simply as The Deck Shoe. One of four boat shoes available from day dot, its major selling point was the sticky, crepe rubber sole, designed to be much more durable than other deck shoes at the time. And now, it’s back how it used to be via the new Anaheim Factory Collection.

Samuel Hennessy, a Vans Footwear Designer, tells THE FACE about the balancing act of revival and reinvention. ​“I think with classics you don’t want to change too much,” he says. ​“When something is an iconic design, it demands respect.”

Rian Pozzebon, Senior Director of Global Footwear Design at Vans, explains to THE FACE how the brand kept this core silhouette for the new Authentic DX 44. The collection revives the higher glossed foxing tape, original drill lining weight and cotton laces and also features the original notched blue sole for gripping onto wet decks inspired by what Pozzebon calls the ​“siped nature of dogs’ paws.” There are just a few meticulously thought-out modifications. First, there are Ortholite® sockliners for added comfort. There’s also a synthetic leather piece added to the inside of the heel, first introduced in the ​’70s, to ensure a longer-lasting shoe and give it ​“a little bit of an iconic look versus the classic shoe,” says Pozzebon.

Because of the Authentic’s rich cultural history, everyone in the Vans family has a different story about the shoe. For Pozzebon, it takes him back to his childhood. ​“My Mom only [allowed] me to wear the Navy Authentic,” he recalls, sharing childhood images of himself in those true blues with THE FACE. ​“About 10 years into the job, my Mum found a super small pair of Navy Authentics that were my younger brother’s… she’d held onto his shoes from the ​’80s.”

For Hennessy, the Authentic’s appeal is in how its function was flipped by skateboarders. ​“It’s a very classic, iconic design… the most interesting thing about the Authentic is that… it was adopted by youth culture, whether it was the legendary Z‑Boys skate team, bands in California… they all birthed a burst of movements, styles and mindsets.”

Even without these memories, though, the Authentic is a shoe for the ages – and all ages at that. Pozzebon ensured he used young designers like Hennessy to keep things fresh. ​“To see what the younger generation would’ve done to the shoes is a fun thing for me to watch… it’s not just some old person like me bringing old aspects… I want to connect it to the younger generation.”