Vans launches its 2018 “Off the Wall” campaign with the release of “Girls Skate India” and a series of women’s skate clinics around the world.
“Vans has always been great at storytelling and committed to activations within the community,” Senior Director of Brand Marketing April Vitkus said. “This year we are tying the two together. We want Vans to be seen as actively committed to enabling creative expression.”
“Girls Skate India,” the digital portion of the campaign, features Vans athletes Lizzie Armanto and Atita Verghes skating with and inspiring young girls in India, a place where female skateboarding is very rare.
“There is a community of encouragement in skateboarding seen in the videos,” April said. “We decided this year it wasn’t enough to watch. We wanted to spread that encouragement and create that community for women around the world.”
Vans is hosting 100 clinics throughout the year in major cities such as Brooklyn, Chicago, London, St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Bangalore, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.
The first clinics take place today in conjunction with International Women’s Day.
The clinics will vary in size and include skateboard lessons for girls of all skill levels, panels with Vans athletes and a custom skateboard building station.
“Our hope is to get a lot more women and girls on skateboards and in parks,” April said. “We see so much through skateboarding. There is so much freedom and self expression and we want girls of all levels to experience that.”
