The shoes James Van Doren and his brother cooked up in their family rubber factory turned out to be the perfect fit for the nascent skateboarding culture that was sweeping Southern California in the 1960s.
They were cheap and they came in a variety of distinct designs that seemed to shout, Cool California dude, as soon as you put on a pair.
But most importantly, once you did slip on a pair of Vans, you never fell off your skateboard. At least not until you crashed it.
Mr Van Doren, whose background in chemistry and mechanics contributed to that unique, slip-resistant design, died on October 12 at his Fullerton home, his wife, Char, said.
He was 72 and had been afflicted with cancer.
Mr Van Doren and his older brother, Paul, were working for a sports shoe company in the 1960s when Paul suggested they and two friends form their own business.
They would name it Vans and create an instantly recognisable logo with a capital V whose elongated tail covered the rest of the word.
They decided to keep their prices low by cutting out the middle man, choosing to manufacture the shoes themselves and sell them at their own retail store in Anaheim.
Initially, the company was so small that its first store carried only display samples. A customer would order a pair of shoes and the brothers would go next door to the family rubber factory to make them. Often they would use patterns and designs the customers had brought in themselves.
But most importantly, they would make the shoes’ soles with a unique, waffle-like design perfect for gripping a wood surface like the top of a skateboard.
“They got it right the first time. The sole they use, it’s called the waffle sole. Nothing else seems to work nearly as good for skateboarding,” said Herb Hogen, a former competitive skater who has been wearing Vans for 30 years.
Soon the shoes seemed to be ubiquitous with skateboarding across the country.
“If you saw another guy wearing Vans, you immediately knew they were a skateboarder and you immediately had a connection,” said Mr Hogen, 42, a bicycle mechanic who still skates for fun.
Then, in 1982, the shoes got a gigantic promotional boost. Sean Penn, in a role that would make him a star, played quintessential stoned surfer-dude Jeff Spicoli in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. And he wore a pair of Vans with a distinctive checkerboard design.
“The checkerboard pattern skyrocketed after that,” recalled Char Van Doren.
Teenagers continue to wear it to this day, and Vans continues to market to alternative youth culture, announcing a collaboration with the rock group Pearl Jam earlier this year.