Vans is the flagship brand of the survey conducted by Piper Jaffray in the fall of 2018 – Quartzy

Since 2001, the investment bank Piper Jaffray has been questioning thousands of people twice a year since 2001 about their favorite brands and what they consider to be the main trends in fashion.

Piper Jaffray said this fall was a breakthrough season for one brand in particular: it has become the fastest growing brand in the history of its survey. "The most astounding increases came from women where Vans said that Nike was the # 1 brand among [upper-income] women, "he noted.

More and more teenagers have always referred to Nike as their favorite brand of footwear – 41% of respondents, or 6,200 teenagers with an average household income of $ 55,800 and 2,400 teenagers from high-income families with an average income of $ 101,900.

But Vans and Adidas have shattered Nike's lead. In the recent survey, Vans reached its highest level so far: 19% of its teenagers report it as their favorite shoe brand, making it the closest to all other Nike manufacturers in years.

The Vans Old Skool – the one with the "waving jazz band" on the side – is a star of the brand lately. This is Vans' number one classic style and accounts for nearly 25% of its sales, said Scott Roe, chief financial officer of VF Corp., parent company of Vans, at a results conference.

But it's not the only one to attract buyers. In the last quarter, Vans sales increased by 26%, reflecting growth in all regions, channels and product categories. Roe explained:

In this brand, we always see some franchises that tend to be slightly higher than others. But with time, that's the point, right? It's not a thing. There is product lifecycle management, which shows that it is relatively stronger in regions where you moderate. And over time, we have seen this engine continue to deliver consistent results. For example, clothing, which accounts for only about 20% of all vans, is growing faster than the brand, is not it? So you should think of this as being very broad and not really motivated by a single franchise.

This growth does not seem to slow down, certainly not among American teenagers. Piper Jaffray noted that the rise of streetwear has not slowed down and that brands such as Supreme and Off-White are still gaining popularity. The vans, which share the roots of streetwear in Californian surf-and-skate culture, seem poised to continue riding this wave, which is consistent with buyers' persistent preference for athletic-inspired shoes. , more focused on comfort and style than on gym performance.