Chuck Taylor All-Stars
Converse | |
Inception |
|
---|---|
Manufacturer | Converse |
Website | Converse.com |
Chuck Taylor All-Stars or Converse All Stars (also referred to as "Converse", "Chuck Taylors", "Chucks", "Cons", "All Stars", and "Chucky Ts") is a
Converse started making an early basketball shoe in 1917 and redesigned it in 1922, when Chuck Taylor asked the company to create a better shoe with more support and flexibility. After Converse added Taylor's signature to the ankle patch they became known as Chuck Taylor All Stars. By the 1960s the company had captured about 70 to 80 percent of the basketball shoe market, but the shoe declined in popularity during the 1970s when basketball players wore competing brands. Chuck Taylor All Stars enjoyed a comeback in popularity in the 1980s as retro-style casual footwear.[1][2]
Although Chuck Taylor All-Stars are no longer used in professional basketball, they remain popular as casual footwear. Converse has released editions of the shoes in many colors and patterns, as well as updated models that retain the original's appearance while incorporating newer technology.
History
Early years
Marquis Mills Converse founded the
In 1921, Charles "Chuck" Taylor, an American semi-professional basketball player for the Akron Firestone Non-Skids joined Converse as a salesman.[4] Within a year of Taylor's arrival, the company had adopted his ideas for improvements to the shoe's design to enhance its flexibility and ankle support. The restyled shoe also incorporated a distinctive All-Star logo on the circular patch that protected the ankle. After Taylor's signature was added to the ankle patch as his endorsement, they became known as Chuck Taylor All Stars, the first celebrity-endorsed athletic shoe.[5][6]
To promote sales of Converse All Star shoes to basketball players, Taylor held basketball clinics in high school and college gyms and YMCAs all across the United States and taught the fundamentals of the game.[7] During the 1926–27 season Taylor also served as a player-manager of the company-sponsored basketball team called the Converse All Stars. The Chicago-based touring team was established to promote sales of the company's All Star basketball shoes.[8]
Numerous professional basketball players were soon wearing All Stars. Converse All Stars were the official shoe of the Olympics from 1936 to 1968.[5][9] During World War II All Stars were the official athletic training shoes of the U.S. armed forces.[5]
Post World War II popularity
By the 1950s, Chuck Taylor All Stars had become a standard among high school, collegiate, and professional basketball players.[10]
In the 1960s, Converse had captured about 70 to 80 percent of the basketball shoe market, with Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars being worn by ninety percent of professional and college basketball players. Due in large part to the sale of its All Stars, the company began to expand and open more factories.[2][11]
Converse began to struggle financially during the 1970s, due to competition and poor business decisions as the shoe lost its popularity among basketball players. Many athletes switched to shoes with leather uppers and harder rubber soles made by Converse as well as its competitors.
Chuck Taylor All Stars regained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s, making a shift to casual, retro-style footwear.[2] The athletic shoe evolved into the shoe of choice and a favorite for subcultures, particularly artists and musicians.[15][11] By 2000 Converse had sold more than 600 million pairs of All Stars during its eighty years of manufacturing them.[10]
Nike acquisition
While Converse dominated the U.S. basketball shoe market from the 1920s until the 1970s, it began to struggle in the late 1970s due to competition, poor business decision-making, and lack of sufficient funds. In subsequent years Converse filed for bankruptcy multiple times and fell into further debt.[5] Nike acquired Converse in 2003 for an estimated $305 million and continues to market Chuck Taylor All Stars.[16]
Converse's manufacturing operations for Chuck Taylor All Stars, as well as the company's other shoes, was moved from the United States to other countries such as China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia.[5]
Lawsuit
In October 2014, after years of sending unsuccessful
In November 2015, Charles Bullock, chief administrative judge at the International Trade Commission, preliminarily ruled that several brands Converse filed against were violating Converse's outsole design trademarks, i.e. the pattern on the bottom of the sole of the shoe. Judge Bullock further ruled that while Skechers "Twinkle Toes" brands did share similarities to Converse, "Twinkle Toes" were different enough and marketed in a way to not be mistaken for Chuck Taylor All-Stars.[18] Judge Bullock also ruled that most of the shoes sold by Highline United under the Ash brand did not infringe and that Converse did not have a valid common law mark for its midsole.
On June 23, 2016, the International Trade Commission ruled that Converse's alleged trade dress for the midsole design of a combined toe cap, toe bumper, and stripe was not entitled to trademark protection under the common law and found invalid Converse's federal trademark registration.[19]
Design
Early styles
When first designed in the early decades of the twentieth century, the Converse All Star had three main styles: a monochromatic shoe with a black canvas upper and black rubber soles, an all-white, high-top model with blue and red trim (designed for the 1936 Olympic Games), and an all black leather and rubber shoe.[citation needed]
By 1923 the Converse All Star shoe was designed in its present-day form after the company made improvements to the design based on Chuck Taylor's input. The restyled Converse All Star basketball shoe also had a distinctive five-pointed-star logo displayed on the high-top shoe's ankle patch. In addition, Taylor's signature was incorporated into the high-top's ankle patch, resulting in the design that became known as the Chuck Taylor All Star.[5][4][20]
In 1949, Converse made a black-and-white version of the All Star. In 1957, it introduced the low-cut "Oxford"-style version of the shoe, and in time the company began to produce All Stars in multiple colors and prints. Today, Converse makes the Chuck Taylor All Star in a variety of colors, styles, prints and fabrics.[citation needed]
Only the high-cut shoe design features the ankle patch with the All Star logo, but the heel of the shoe's high- and low-cut designs include a glued-on label with an "ALL★STAR" logo. The low-cut shoes also have a tag with the same logo as the heel stitched onto the tongue.[21] In 2013 the logo appearing on the heel and tongue was slightly altered to include "CONVERSE" in addition to "ALL★STAR", but the ankle patches of the high-cut shoes remained unchanged.[citation needed]
Chuck Taylor All Star '70
In 2013, Converse launched the Chuck Taylor All Star '70, which featured a build similar to the All Stars used for basketball that were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This retro model was different from the then-current Chuck Taylor All Stars, as various changes that happened to the All Star shoes over the intervening three decades. The '70 model featured thicker canvas, a higher rubber midsole and foxing, thicker cushioning, a smaller toe cap, extra material that was stitched on the side wall behind the toe cap for reinforcement, a one-piece rubber bottom sole versus the three piece sole on the modern All Stars, and a black heel patch versus a white one on the modern All Star.[22]
Chuck Taylor All Star II
On July 28, 2015, Converse released the Chuck Taylor All Star II. This shoe differed from the standard, modern version of the Chuck Taylor All Star in several ways,[23] including a thicker canvas; a higher rubber midsole and foxing that was similar in size to the All Star '70, but it had lighter weight rubber; a thicker Lunarlon cushioning; a slightly smaller toe cap; two elastic bands at the base of the tongue, to avoid slippage to the sides; a sewn-on ankle patch on the high-tops; a two-piece rubber bottom sole versus the three piece sole on the modern All Stars; a heel patch with 3D letters versus a flat one on the modern All Star version.[24][15]
A few months after the release of the Chuck II, several special series were released with different canvas textures such as the Chuck II
Converse Modern
In June 2016, Converse launched a new line of sneakers designed by Hiroshi Fujiwara,
Special editions
Converse has released many special editions of Chuck Taylor All-Stars, including
Sociocultural impact
Although Chuck Taylor All-Stars had vanished from the professional basketball scene by 1979, they continued to flourish in popular culture and fashion as casual footwear. Chuck Taylors have played a role in several subcultures, which the company has promoted as part of the brand's ongoing cultural popularity. In addition, Chuck Taylor All-Stars have been portrayed in film, art, and music culture, as well as some sports subcultures such as powerlifting and skateboarding.[33]
Chuck Taylors are culturally associated with authenticity. They were popularized by James Dean for rebels and outcasts. They were also associated with Andy Warhol, Kurt Cobain, and Karl Lagerfeld.[34]
While campaigning with running mate and future President Joe Biden in 2020, then-California senator Kamala Harris made a fashion statement by wearing Chuck Taylors as a substitute for high heels at their public appearances.[34][35]
Film and television
Chuck Taylor All Star shoes have been worn by actors in feature films that include
The cast of several popular network television series such as
Art
In 2015, Converse released the Converse All-Star Andy Warhol collection, in partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation. In honor of Warhol's contributions to visual art, Converse designed the All-Star shoe to commemorate Warhol's subcultural influence.[39] Since 2018, sculptor Michael Leavitt has formatted long-running projects for art students and craftspeople to make a do-it-yourself Converse Chuck Taylor cardboard shoe.[40][41]
Powerlifting
Although originally intended for basketball, powerlifting athletes have embraced Chuck Taylors[33] as ideal shoes with flat rubber soles that enforce correct posture on movements such as deadlifts, squats, and bench presses. Seventy-one-year-old Pete Bennett set a world record for the squat in his age class at 465 pounds (211 kg) in a pair of Chuck Taylors.[33] The canvas material allows powerlifters to push their feet to the outside on squats which helps keep their knees out and activates their glutes.[42] The low-top Chuck Taylors provide complete ankle mobility, as the canvas does not cover the ankles.
See also
- List of basketball shoe brands
- Sneaker tossing
References
- ^ "OG of OGs: History of Converse Chuck Taylors". Cult Edge. February 4, 2018.
- ^ a b c Dalesio, Emery P. (March 28, 2001). "Converse closes out Chuck Taylor plant". Kentucky New Era. Hopkinsville. Associated Press. p. A7. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ Tang, Vinny (June 6, 2016). "American Icon: The Basketball History of the Converse All Star". Sneaker Freaker. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ^ a b "Who the heck was Chuck Taylor anyway?". Kentucky New Era. Hopkinsville. Associated Press. March 28, 2001. p. A7. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ ISBN 9780313357145.
- ^ Aamidor, Abe (Summer 2007). "Who Was Chuck Taylor? The Man and The Shoe". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. 19 (3). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 5. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ Freeman, Scott (April 2006). "The Shoes Make The Man". Indianapolis Monthly. Emmis Communications.
- ^ Aamidor, "Who Was Chuck Taylor?," pp. 8–9.
- ^ "Charles H. "Chuck" Taylor". The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
- ^ a b c Aamidor, Abe (March 14, 2001). "Time Out for Chucks". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. pp. E1–E2.
- ^ )
- ^ "Tree Rollins Was the Last NBA Player to Wear Chucks... in 1979 - 50 Things You Didn't Know About Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars - Complex". Complex. May 28, 2013. Archived from the original on November 7, 2014.
- ^ "Autographed Tree Rollins Memorabilia - Signed Basketball, Jersey, Photo". SportsMemorabilia.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2014.
- ^ "Catalog - 2022 FALL PREMIER AUCTION". Archived from the original on December 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ a b Luna, Taryn (July 22, 2015). "Converse's new Chuck Taylors get a comfort boost: Minimalist sneaker launched in 1917 receives upgrade with Nike tech". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on February 1, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
- ^ McCarthy, Michael (July 9, 2003). "Nike laces up Converse deal". USA Today. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008.
- ^ Bonadio, Enrico (October 2, 2014). "Converse is waging war on knock-off Chuck Taylors. Here's why Wal-Mart should be worried". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 13, 2015.
- ^ Sutherlin, Margaret (November 19, 2015). "Converse Trademark Lawsuit: Skechers Declares Victory, Mixed Ruling Expected Overall". Footwear News. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ Aamidor, "Who Was Chuck Taylor?" pp. 5, 10.
- ISBN 978-1602390799.
- ^ "Who Doesn't Love Chuck's? | Converse 1970s Chuck Taylor All Star Collection". stupidDOPE. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ "Converse CEO on the risky, first Chuck Taylor update in 98 years". Fortune. July 28, 2015. Archived from the original on February 20, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ Flores, Gerald. "Is the Converse Chuck Taylor II Really Better Than the Original?". Sole Collector. Complex Media. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- ^ "Converse Chuck II Open Knit Celebrates Rio Olympics With New Colorways". Highsnobiety. August 11, 2016. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 13, 2016.
- ^ "Chuck Taylor Sequel Flops, Dealing Blow to Nike's Converse Brand". Bloomberg. September 26, 2016. Archived from the original on September 30, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
- ^ Bracetti, Alex (June 7, 2016). "Converse Unveils All-Star Modern Sneakers". AskMen. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ "Converse Launches a Brand New All Star Modern Collection With Nike Technologies". Hypebeast. June 6, 2016. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Raymer, Miles (March 8, 2017). "Converse Is Reimagining the Most Iconic Sneaker of All Time". Esquire. Archived from the original on June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ "Miley Cyrus Teams Up With Converse To Create a Collection of Pride-Inspired Sneakers". Billboard. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
- ^ "Miley Cyrus Talks Equal Rights, Gender Fluidity, and Her Pride Collaboration With Converse". Vogue. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
- ^ Marc Andrews (January 11, 2017). "Converse Special Edition Shoes - The Best Of". Soleracks. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ a b c "The Big Three: Why Powerlifters Love Chuck Taylors". Complex. Archived from the original on November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
- ^ "Back to the Future". The ChucksConnection. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
- ^ a b Peterson, Hal (March 7, 2001). "Famous Footwear". The Republic. Columbus, Indiana. p. A-10.
- ^ McAlpine, Fraser (July 19, 2011). "How to Dress Like the Tenth Doctor". BBC America. Archived from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
- ^ "Converse Celebrates the Creative Spirit of Andy Warhol". Converse Media. Archived from the original on November 23, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
- ^ "Cardboard Shoes by Mike Leavitt". Mike Leavitt Art. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
- ^ "NMS Eighth Grade Spends Day Of Art Designing Shoes". The Newtown Bee. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
- ^ "What Are The Best Weight Lifting Shoes for Squats & Deadlifts?". Stronglifts. Retrieved November 14, 2015.