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Off the Wall, Forward...
A Vision for the Next Chapter
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Design Leadership for Culture, Commerce & Creative Progression
This strategy entails a multi-tiered growth strategy that honors the brand’s iconic legacy while pushing boldly into the future. Grounded in culture, innovation, and community it will create impactful commercially viable product through:
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Product Innovation
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Digital Evolution
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Authentic consumer connection
Product Innovation
Skate, Style, and Story .... Reimagined with Purpose
Capsule Collection Concept:
Vans is an iconic American brand and a global powerhouse of creativity, authenticity, and self-expression. This capsule reflects a future-facing evolution that remains rooted in the brand’s commitment to individuality and the culture of American youth... spanning art, music, and skate.
The collection reimagines Vans' heritage through iconic styles, vintage detailing, and functional modernity with fashion-forward appeal. All designs were hand sketched then reworked digitally to achieve the final look. Key points to achieve innovation:
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Introducing a halo tier of fashion-forward product to generate buzz and attract new consumers
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Elevating aesthetic through updated proportions, styling, and cuts while staying relevant to Vans’ broad age demographic
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Continuing to refresh the core assortments with seasonal colors, graphics, and materials
Capsule LookBook & Call-outs
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Process Sketches
Areas of potential Growth
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Expand Womenswear offering to include more of what the consumer already wears
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Expand on the kids category
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Explore gender fluid capsules/ areas where extended and inclusive sizing could focus product offering and yield higher sell-throughs
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Size inclusivity (works hand-in-hand with the above)
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Develop technical performance features in footwear that merges utility, action-sport cues, and urban fashion to elevate brand positioning against competitors
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Invest in product strategies and storytelling that align better with the Gen-Z core values (i.e. Eco-capsules, Inclusion initiatives, etc)
Marketing Minded Product Design
Using cultural capital to build product that markets itself
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Collaborations: Partner with unexpected, non-fashion brands like gaming, sustainability tech, food, or sports to spark viral moments and open up new consumer verticals. Examples:
-Polaroid, Patagonia (storytelling around nature and utility)
-Spotify (sound + skate + streetwear).
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Tie product launches to real-world experiences like pop-ups, skate park takeovers, and virtual events.
Digital Evolution
From Pavement to Pixel: The New Digital Playground
Gen-Z is the 1st native digital generation and a mobile 1st strategy can amplify growth. Product designed specifically intended for tech integration opportunities could unlock new revenue streams:
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Create immersive digital campaigns with integrated AR/VR elements tied to key specifically designed product drops.
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Explore wearables or NFC chip integration for exclusive unlocks and IRL/digital connectivity.
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Reimagine the Vans app as a culture hub: product access, skate map, community stories, and event invites
Grow Social Through Limited-Edition/ Product Activations
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Drive social growth with limited drops tied to TikTok or IG-native content creators.
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Launch creator-led capsule collections with mini-docs, behind-the-scenes footage, and live sessions.
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Build digital scavenger hunts that drive traffic to brick-and-mortar or events.
Authentic Consumer Connection
Speaking the Language of Real Life
Building loyalty through action, not just messaging and connecting Gen-Z Values Alignment & Brand Ethos:
· Sustainability: Sustainable capsule drops, expand take-back programs, recycled-material use, and traceable production practices.
· Equity & Inclusion: Gender fluid capsules, size inclusivity, co-create with underrepresented creatives across gender, race, and geography.
· Transparency: Share the “why” and “how” behind decisions where possible (from product sourcing to direction) using storytelling and design to further humanize the brand.
· IRL Experiences: The youth consumer is increasingly interested in ‘in real life’ shopping. Experiential activations are an opportunity to foster consumer engagement and organic growth. These could feature capsules and product specifically tailored to the events:
Examples: City-specific products, up and coming local artist debuts, music and culture,
community driven initiatives, competitions
The Wrap-up
This vision reflects a layered, culture-driven strategy designed to deepen relevance while expanding reach. By blending product evolution with digital innovation and socially conscious storytelling, Vans has the opportunity to lead with meaning and momentum. It’s a forward-facing roadmap that both honors Vans’ heritage and boldly reimagines its future.
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