Vans' global DTC sales rose for the first time in five years, while the smaller Altra brand's footwear growth likely helped to offset shoe declines at Vans.

When it comes to Vans‘ long-awaited turnaround, VF Corp. believes there’s a lot to be positive about.

“Vans continues to be recognized for the innovation and excitement that’s happening,” said VF’s chief executive officer Bracken Darrell during the firm’s second-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday. He cited to the Piper Jaffray teen survey, which indicated that Vans is one of the top brands of its targeted consumer base, and a recent AlixPartners Consumer Sentiment Index that noted Vans as the number-two fashion footwear brand.

While the brand was down 9.8 percent in the second quarter, Darrell emphasized that global direct-to-consumer sales were “positive for the first time in almost five years as our product engine shows up in our channels first.”

Darrell reminded analysts on the call that the company started with improved performance in U.S. e-commerce a few quarters ago, and then in Americas DTC in total, followed by global DTC in the second quarter ended Sept. 26.

“We’re introducing new ideas first with small batches in e-comm as well as with appropriate partners and cultural platforms and quickly introducing a few of these ideas into limited stores, our own, then scaling a subset of those products into the wider fleet,” Darrell said, adding that product flows into wholesale after that, or about six to nine months behind DTC.

“We have a lot of confidence in the wholesale channel for [the third quarter], and especially [the fourth quarter], based on a strong response from our partners to our increased product newness,” the CEO said.

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