Skateboarders around California quickly followed the example set by Tony Alva and Stacey Peralta and began wearing these #95 Era shoes. Part of the reason why these shoes were so quickly embraced by other skaters is that both Tony and Stacey were part of a popular skate crew at the time named the "Z-Boys", so naturally, these sneakers gained a thumbs up from the community.
The Z-Boys are also credited for Vans' famous "Off the Wall" slogan. As the story goes, Tony Alva was skating in an empty pool and caught air while still holding his skateboard. The move prompted Z-Boys co-founder Skip Engblom to say something across the lines of "Man, you just went off the wall!" and the rest was history. The "off the wall" phrase quickly became a common saying amongst skaters in the area and eventually became part of the Vans logo when the Van Doren brothers caught wind of the saying.
With Vans booming in popularity amongst its young skateboarding followers, the brand would go on to fully embrace its skateboarding roots during the late '70s. It was around this time that Vans would release a trio of skate-ready models that would go on to be some of the brand's biggest models to date. In '77 vans would release the "#36", a shoe more commonly known today as the Old Skool . The Old Skool featured leather panels for durability and the debut of the "jazz stripe", an identifiable logo found on the exterior of the sneaker.
Later that same year, Vans introduced the "#98" aka, the Classic Slip-On . This lightweight shoe arrived without laces, had a lightweight construction and a grippy waffle sole meaning skateboarders quickly favoured it. Finally, in 1978, Vans released the SK8-HI , a new high top trainer perfect for protecting skaters' ankles and adding extra stability.
