This was going to be the Ides of March news listers. Then the Holi lister, now it’s just the late-in-March list of news stories that caught our eye and might be of interest to you. That’s all. No snide asides, no out-of-context comments, no misinformed snark, and no 200 word headlines. Just links to stories that are at the top of the news tonight.
We’ve got no backstory on this one. We left the controls for a few days to catch the tail end of the winter that wasn’t and celebrate Holi while avoiding the St. Pats day madness only to return to news that VF Corp chose March 17, 2022 to announce that the company had named long-time Vans (and former Vans president) Kevin Bailey as the new global brand president for Vans.
This appointment marks Bailey’s return to the Vans brand after holding several enterprise leadership roles at VF. Bailey was Vice President of Retail for Vans when the brand was acquired by VF in 2004. He was later appointed as President of Vans, a role he held from 2009 to 2016. Under Bailey’s leadership, revenue for the brand more than doubled to $2.2 billion.
As for Vans comment on former president Doug Palladini (pictured right)? Well, they thanked him for his dedication and passionate service for the past 18 years and wished him “all the best” in his next chapter. Wish we had more info. If you see something, say something. Please. For the official word from VF click the link.
Merge4 has released a rad new collection of three crew socks from skateboarding legend Tony Alva.
Along with the classic Alva logo, each pair of Tony Alva socks is constructed with textile technology that supports an action based lifestyle, including moisture wicking soles, light compression to encourage circulation, and elastic arch support to cushion every movement. “Tony Alva gives us old men hope,” joked Santa Cruz Bicycles Founder and MERGE4 Board Member since the sock brand’s inception, Rob Roskopp.
The MERGE4 X Tony Alva collection socks are available to purchase at www.MERGE4.com and through select retailers. For all the details, please follow the jump.
We all need some good sunnies, and who better to drive your style than Jamie Thomas. That’s why OTIS has signed him up with a “multi-year partnership.”
“My idea of a perfect collaboration is two forces coming together to create a delicate mixture of quality, style, purpose and passion,” continues Jamie. “I feel that we accomplished that with Overkill and I’m pleased to present the first of hopefully many collections to come.”
And yes, they look good, and will be available at retail March 1, 2022. Please follow the jump for the new collection and the official word from OTIS.
It’s newsies time. Obviously, this list is overloaded with Olympic content since that’s what snowboarding is up to right now. And Shaun White is the biggest news from Chinaland. Shaun, and the terrible judging. But, oddly, few outlets wrote about that. Censorship? Probably not, but you know the journalists who are visiting China and hope to stay and/or return to the country don’t want to upset the PRC media watchers. Click the link for the list. And get going. This is enough to make it look like you’re working for the rest of the afternoon!
Vans is not letting Walmart off the hook in their blatant copying of Vans shoes (see the images above), according to a story on The Fashion Law. Vans filed a suit last year against Walmart’s rather obvious design borrowing, however, Walmart apparently complained that Vans “waited too long” to file suit. Vans believes “a preliminary injunction to block Walmart from continuing to sell “copycat” versions of “virtually all of [its] bestselling shoes” is necessary.” Can’t really blame them.
Vans has since lodged its reply to Walmart’s memo in opposition, taking issue with Walmart’s arguments, including the retailer’s claims that Vans lacks robust trademark rights, primarily for its OLD SKOOL sneaker. Looking specifically to the OLD SKOOL mark, Vans states that “based on longstanding use dating back more than 40 years, substantial sales and advertising, unsolicited media references, popular culture usage, and intentional copying by Walmart, Vans is likely to succeed in demonstrating that the OLD SKOOL trade dress has acquired secondary meaning.” In terms of sales, Vans says that it has generated “$10 billion in lifetime sales and current revenue of over $1 billion each year in U.S. sales of shoes bearing the OLD SKOOL trade dress.”
This entire case is just another example of how suspect Walmart’s entire business model really is. And we’re stoked that Vans is taking it to them full press. Click the link for the rest of the story.
Circle Jerks are back with a whole new video for Wild In The Streets directed by Atiba Jefferson and filmed by Ty Evans (who were 5 and 8 years old in 1982 when the album came out). Chomp on that while you count the cameos!
After 18 years and introducing over 6,000 kids from historically forgotten communities to action sports STOKED founder Steve Larosiliere is stepping down as president and moving to a new role on the organization’s board of directors. The new president is Dr. Patricia Charlemagne.
[Charlemagne] is a seasoned nonprofit executive with an amazing track record. She’s also an attorney and just received her doctorate in education and organization leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
A Shoc, the energy drink company backed by Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., has just signed a $15 million sponsorship deal with Thrill One, the Costa Mesa, California owners of Street League Skateboarding (among other action sporting assets), according to story in the Financial Post.
The two-year agreement is worth as much as $15 million and will let Thrill One invest in live events, locker rooms and media production. As part of the arrangement, A Shoc will be featured throughout Thrill One’s various assets, which include Street League Skateboarding, Nitro Circus daredevil action sports shows, Nitro Rallycross and a production house.. . . “It’s going to be a game changer for our existing properties and will level them up,” said Thrill One Chief Executive Officer Joe Carr. “We’re going to be creating a lot more content throughout the year.”
A Shoc promotes its caffeine delivery liquid as a natural energy drink designed for performance enhancement with no sugar added.
Former pro skater Evan Hernandez was just sentenced yesterday, January 19, 2022, to eight years in federal prison for “selling nearly two pounds of methamphetamine and laundering Bitcoin” for other drug dealers.
According to court documents, from at least March 2018 to March 2019, Hernandez distributed narcotics, conspiring with drug dealers to distribute the controlled substances over one of the world’s largest darknet marketplaces. . . Hernandez also was responsible for laundering Bitcoin for darknet drug trafficking operations.
Hernandez will also reportedly have to turn over “a 2010 Mercedes-Benz, approximately $35,000 in cash, and various watches, necklaces, rings and other jewelry” to the government. Seems like only yesterday he was that little kid in In Bloom. Bummer all around.