The first Vans shoes had a diamond pattern in the sole, but they discovered that it would crack along the ball of the outsole. Vertical lines were then added to the ball area to make it stronger, a design which is now Vans' proprietary waffle sole.

In 1976, skateboarders began wearing Vans shoes. On March 19, 1976, Vans came out with the first Vans Era in red/blue, designed by pro skaters Tony Alva and Stacy Peralta. Over the next few years, many different color combinations were introduced into the Vans line. The Slip-on was added in 1979 in a multitude of color combinations, and it quickly became the craze of Southern California.

That craze spread across the nation when Jeff Spicoli, a California surfer dude in the hit movie "Fast Times at Ridgemont High", wore a pair of Vans checkerboard slip-ons.


By the early 1980s, Vans had become a successful and profitable company. Paul Van Doren decided to step back and take a lighter role. The new administration started increasing the Vans line into new territory. All of these new designs required a different type of manufacturing process that other shoe companies were doing in Asia. Vans tried to do it in the United States where labor was much more expensive. Naturally, this had an unfortunate effect on the company.

The bank that was financing Vans called its note, but Vans did not have the money to pay. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In December of 1986, Vans came out of Chapter 11 and once again became a stable and profitable company.