If you don’t own a pair yourself, you probably know someone who does. That probably has something to do with the fact that over 750 million have been sold. Their look is unmistakable: a simplistic combination of cheap canvas and rubber , produced in a variety of colors with two distinct styles. And that trademark star. There is something quintessentially American about them, really. Not only are they the best-selling basketball shoes of all time, but during WWII they became the “official” sneaker of the United States Armed Forces. And for whatever reason, they have a nostalgic quality to them––something that just screams of memories from our first pair. Mine are overshadowed by one particular instance regarding my best friend’s first pair, where, after receiving them from his parents before our first day of seventh grade, he proceeded to take them outside where he doused them with water and dirt. “There,” I remember him saying, “now they look more like the kind Sid Vicious wears.”

And he was right. Converse All Stars––otherwise known as “Chucks”––always look more official when they’re worn down and grimy (even if one chooses to accelerate this process). This is because each pair contains their own set of battle scars that reveal a little piece of history about the person who has walked a thousand miles in their beloved Chuck’s. Whether it be the tattered threads of canvas and torn heals of rubber as a result of numerous failed kick-flip attempts; or the dried, caked dirt from a makeshift baseball diamond that has embedded itself into the bottom grooves; or the smeared ink of an inspirational line from a favorite punk song written around the bottom trim––Converse All Stars tell a story. But to know the historic story of the shoe itself, you would have to go all the way back to the turn of the twentieth century.

By 1957, Converse was at its peak with an 80% share of the entire sneaker industry and a newly designed low cut All Star that would become popular as a more casual alternative to the high top. The widespread success of the company could be directly linked to Taylor and his trademark shoes. Unfortunately, one year after being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, Chuck Taylor passed away. Along with his passing went the dominance of the Converse Company as new rival companies like Nike began to lure basketball players with high-tech innovations like pumps and air cells. Converse tried to counter by designing Chucks in an array of colors, but by the early sixties they were eventually dethroned as America’s premiere basketball shoe. Chuck Taylor All Stars had lost their appeal to players in the NBA, but they quickly became popular with baby boomers and rock musicians. In an instant, Chucks became the shoes of an American counter-culture that didn’t want to pay a fortune for a designer brand pair of shoes. They became synonymous with the “greaser” subculture and with fans of Rockabilly music. They could be constantly seen on the feet of the members of such early punk bands as The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. And they were emblematic of the early 90’s grunge scene made popular by Kurt Cobain. Over time, Chucks have become more prevalent in American-pop culture by appearing in films, TV shows, and commercials. They continue to sell at astronomical rates (approximately 30,000 pairs of high top chucks are still sold each week worldwide!) and show no signs of going out of style. Although they’ve continued to be more and more fashionable with various designs that include custom prints and unusual color patterns, Chucks are still made out of the same stuff today as they were when Chuck himself was alive. With over 75 years of history, Chuck Taylor All Stars have earned the right to be called America’s sneakers.

>Written by d/visible contributor Ben Millikan.

Images from Flickr Creative Commons License. CC BY-ND 2.0

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Fashion, Culture, Branding, Art & Design, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.