Explain: Why Do Vans Have Diamonds on the Sole?

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

shoeJames Van Doren, who created the Vans sneaker, died this week in California.

He was 72 years old.

The New York Times has an obituary for the Massachusetts native, which also includes a brief history of the Vans shoe.

One of the most interesting things:

Van Doren and his brother patented the diamond pattern found on the soles of Vans because it helped them “stick” to wooden surfaces.

Van Doren was originally thinking of boats when he created them, but it turns out, they also worked well on skateboards.

(And with Kristen Stewart’s red carpet dresses, apparently…)

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Converse Needs Summer Interns!

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Converse needs two awesome interns for their Fashion PR department, who will work out of NYC.

You will work 40 hours a week through summer, and get paid $12/ hour, plus sneakers.

You will do a lot of admin work like answering phones, making photo copies, organizing shoes and clothes in the fashion closet, and making sure everything gets sent to the right place (like NYLON)!

But you will also get to see how a giant, awesome, incredible fashion company lives and breathes every day, and get paid for doing it all summer. That’s pretty amazing.

If you’re dying to intern for Converse (and sorry design students, but this is ONLY for their PR department), then email matthew.kneller@converse.com with your resume and a brief cover letter about how you’re qualified to do all of this.

You must be a rising junior or senior, or a recent graduate of college. And obviously, you must look good in Converse – though everyone looks good in Converse, so you’re safe on that one.

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