Converse
Converse is one the best known shoe making company in business today. With over a century of history, it is among some of the oldest manufacturers of shoes around. Converse started out in 1908 when Marquis Mills Converse start a rubber shoe company with the clear intention of doing something different, something that would be independent and would not follow the trends and in just two years the business grew so much that Converse was releasing four thousand shoes daily and by 1915 it was producing widely used tennis shoes
The history of converse took a turn in 1921 when basketball legend Charles H. “Chuck” Taylor walked into the establishment, supposedly to complain about sore feet because of the Converse All Star basketball shoe. Converse offered him a position at the firm and from then on until the day he died in 1969, Chuck Taylor worked relentlessly to develop and promote shoes.
During the Second World War Converse switched to producing apparel, boots, footwear and rubber protective suites for the US Military. The 1950s and 60s came with a massive boost in popularity for converse, being widely used in high school and college sports and promoting NBA basketball teams.
With the start of the 70s Converse lost some of its monopoly over sportswear with the rise of competitors like Puma and Adidas and later Nike and Reebok. That brought forth the loss of status as the official shoe for the National Basketball Association and it seemed like business started to take a turn for the worse for Converse.
1985 came with a massive comeback from Converse, being the year when the worldwide famous basketball shoe “The Weapon” was released, its uniqueness at the time and heavily padded design for extra comfort ensured its massive success, Converse needing to offer a supply in a wide assortment of colors that would match the official colors of basketball teams. The shoe becoming a hallmark in the history of basketball footwear.
In 1996 conversed released the first attempt to replicate the legendary Chuck Taylor All Star with a version called the All Star 2000 that successfully combined the classic design with top of the notch materials.
Today the Converse All Star, the oldest shoe design still in production, is still worn with pride by basketball players and teens alike, ensuring that its legacy will go on and future generations will enjoy the comfort of a Converse shoe.
