LOS ANGELES â Paul Van Doren, co-founder of Vans, a shoe brand that became a multibillion-dollar action-sports empire thanks to the SoCal skate community and a focus on custom kicks, died Thursday at 90. His death, confirmed Friday by Costa Mesa-based Vans, comes just nine days after the publication of Van Dorenâs book, âAuthentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans.â No cause of death was given, but, according to Vans, Van Doren died at home surrounded by his family. âIt is with a heavy heart that Vans announces the passing of our co-founder Paul Van Doren,â the companyâs statement reads in part. âPaul was not just an entrepreneur; he was an innovator. The Van Doren Rubber Co. was the culmination of a lifetime of experimentation and hard work in the shoe industry. Like Paul, from the first day of business, Vans was uniquely innovative. When the first Vans store opened, there were no stand-alone retail stores just for sneakers. Paulâs bold experiments in product design, distribution, and marketing, along with his knack for numbers, and a genius for efficiency turned Paulâs family shoe business into an all-American success story.â