Sun Choe, the new Vans global brand president, comes to Vans with deep product and merchandising experience at a wide range of well-known brands and retailers, and lots of praise from people who know her or have worked with her in the past.

Most recently, Choe served as chief product officer of Lululemon, which announced May 21 that Choe had resigned and was leaving to pursue another, unnamed opportunity. Vans parent company VF Corp. announced Choe’s hiring Thursday.

Prior to her seven years at Lululemon, Choe worked in product and merchandising roles at West Elm, Madewell, Urban Outfitters, Levi’s, and Gap.

“Incredible” Merchant and Leader

Former colleagues of Choe think she is a great fit for Vans, including Albert Samuels, who worked with Choe at Lululemon when he served as senior director of global men’s merchandising and in other merchandising roles.

While Lululemon is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Choe has lived in the Venice, California, area for several years and understands Southern California culture, he said. She’s also an “incredible” merchant and leader.

“She’s extremely well trained in merchandising having spent her early career at The Gap,” said Samuels, who now works for Impact Capital, a private equity firm. “Before she got to Lululemon, we were more of a design-led company and merchandising was a bit of an afterthought. She evolved it into a product-led company, and put world-class merchandising at the forefront.”

“So she’s really passionate about building a product-led organization. She understands product, celebrates design, and is one of the most intuitive product leaders I’ve ever worked with. She just knows what’s going to work and what isn’t.”

Wore Vans Old Skools to Work at Lululemon

And while Choe most recently worked at a high-end activewear company, Samuels said she is very familiar with the larger brand ecosystem.

“She has such an incredible understanding of the entire brand landscape from super, super luxury to other brands she is passionate about – she’s been wearing Vans skate shoes since I’ve known her. She wore Vans Old Skools to the office all the time.”

That’s why when Samuels heard the news about Choe’s new role, he wasn’t surprised at all that she was going to Vans.

“I think she sees a great heritage brand that she can put her product spin on and really modernize it for today’s consumer while also understanding the authenticity of it.”

Brief Stint at Quiksilver

And a little known fact that Samuels’ father, former Quiksilver Americas President Marty Samuels, told SES: Choe even did a brief stint at Quiksilver earlier in her career, so she is familiar with our industry.

Most of her career, however, has been spent at vertical retailers. That experience could help Vans’ large fleet of global stores. But wholesale also comprises a large part of Vans’ business, and rebuilding relationships with retail accounts is also an important part of the Vans top job.

Industry Analysts Also High on Choe Hire

Matt Powell, a longtime analyst of the athletic footwear market and sports retail industry, believes hiring Choe is a big win for Vans.

“She comes out of the apparel side and has been part of some iconic brands, but she did her greatest work at Lulu,” Powell said. “She understands the importance of getting close to the customer and delivering top-flight products aimed at a certain consumer. Vans is different from Lululemon, of course, but she really understands how to bring a brand to life and can help Vans.”

Given Choe does not have much footwear experience, I asked Powell if that could be difficult for her to get up to speed.

“Sure there are some technical aspects she may need to brush up on, but I know she was very involved in the Lulu footwear initiative,” Powell said. “So it’s not completely foreign to her. I want to say this diplomatically, but Vans is not a particularly technical brand where you really have to understand shoe building.

“Vans is more about the culture. And where Vans went wrong is one, relying too heavily on one small subset of products and when that softened, there was nothing to fall back on. And two, Vans lost the culture. I think they can build that back – the Vans name is still meaningful.”

Not a Skateboarder – Does it Matter?

On the topic of culture, since Vans’ roots are in skateboarding, does Powell see any problem with an industry outsider leading a brand based on such a specific industry?

“Like all specialty businesses, some people (in those industries) think they are the only ones who can do it,” Powell said. “You called me a shoe expert earlier. I haven’t always been a shoe expert – I learned it.

“To me, the bigger issue is can you come into a company and understand the culture, understand what drives that culture, and then nurture that culture,” he said. “I think people who have that ability can do anything. So yes, she is not a skater, but that is not really required.

“Look at NikeSB. The culture told us they would never be successful in skateboarding because they didn’t come from skateboarding. Now they are one of the most successful skateboard footwear brands there is.”

Albert Samuels also believes Choe can navigate the industry-specific cultural issues.

“One thing she’s great at is understanding what she doesn’t necessarily know or live in, and surrounding herself with those people,” he said. “She’s going to listen and learn about the skate culture. And I’m sure she’s going to make some strategic hires as well with people who are tapped in and can keep her tapped into that culture. She’s really young at heart. She has a really youthful energy but is also super savvy, poised, and polished.”

Fixing Vans – A Heavy Lift

Choe, who starts at Vans in late July, will come into a brand that continues to shrink.

Vans’ revenue for the fourth quarter ended March 30, totaled $631.2 million, down 27% in constant currency.

For the full year, Vans’ revenue totaled $2.8 billion, a 25% decline in constant currency.

The latest full-year numbers mean Vans has lost approximately $1.4 billion in revenue in the past two years.

Parent company VF Corp. has implemented several rounds of layoffs at the brand, with many long tenured employees let go.

VF CEO Bracken Darrell previously blamed a move away from the core youth demographic as one of the reasons why Vans lost its way.

He pointed to the business’s success between 2015 to 2020 as new consumer groups flocked to Vans.

“More celebrities started to wear them. Moms bought them for their kids, and we actually took our eye off the core youth audience that had been the lifeblood of Vans,” Darrell said in February of this year. “The brand had to evolve, but rather than continue to respect and serve the youth audience that built the brand, we only fed the trend that grew it rapidly.”

Darrell also blamed the expansion to lower price points and discounters in more recent years as part of the problem, while the company “offered more and more colorways of the same old things” to chase trends.

“The trend fuel burned out 18 months ago. The trend moved on,” Darrell said.

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