Today marks Vans’ 50th anniversary. On March 16, 1966, Vans opened in Anaheim, Calif., as a small family-owned business, and 50 years later the brand has evolved into an action sports powerhouse, at roughly $2.2 billion in yearly sales, thriving through art, music and fashion.
To commemorate this milestone, Vans has launched “The Story of Vans” series, a visual campaign that combines a mix of animation methods to highlight iconic moments from the brand’s history — think an animated timeline of the evolution of the Vans brand, from ’70s skateboarding to launching House of Vans and everything in between.
The short videos, directed by Reza Resoli from Pet Gorilla, feature black-and-white illustrations by French artists Mrzyk & Moriceau and are brought to life through a combination of techniques that are all stop-motion animated.
The campaign is made up of a series of five short stories; one tells the journey of Vans, while the four other spots showcase Vans’ “core forms of creative expression.”
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Professional skateboarder Jeff Grosso lends his voice to the the lead campaign video. Other narrators include Tony Alva for the action-sports short, Ray Barbee for the art short, Chuck D of Public Enemy for music and Chloe Sevigny for fashion.
The campaign is set to launch at 10 House of Vans locations across the globe starting tonight. Visit vans.com to watch “The Story of Vans.”
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