Chuck Taylor All-Stars - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chuck Taylor All Stars, or Converse All Stars, also referred to as "Chuck Taylors", "Converses", "All Stars", "Chucks" or "Cons", are canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

and rubber

Rubber

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...

shoes produced by Converse. They were first produced in 1917 as the "All Star," Converse's attempt to capture the basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

shoe market. Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor (salesman)

Charles Hollis "Chuck" Taylor was an American basketball player and shoe salesman/evangelist. He is best known for his association with the Chuck Taylor All-Stars sneaker, the most successful selling basketball shoe in history...

, a basketball player and shoe salesman for Converse, improved the shoe's design and became the product's spokesperson in the 1920s.

History

Converse

Converse is an American shoe company that has been making shoes, lifestyle fashion and athletic apparel since the early 20th century. Converse is one of the earliest pioneers in the sneaker and sporting good industry founded in 1908.- 1908–1941: Early days :...

Rubber Shoe Company was started by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1917, the company designed a shoe called the All Star. The shoe was composed of a rubber

Rubber

sole and canvas

Canvas

upper and was designed to be an elite shoe for the professional basketball league. In 1921, a basketball player by the name of Charles “Chuck” Taylor joined a basketball team sponsored by the Converse Company called The Converse All Stars. Taylor held basketball clinics in high schools all over the county and while teaching the fundamentals of the game, he sold the All Star shoes. As a salesman and athlete for the company, Taylor also made improvements to the shoe he loved. His ideas for the shoe were designed to provide enhanced flexibility and support and also incorporated a patch to protect the ankle.(See Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor (salesman)

) All Stars were soon worn by a variety of professional basketball players and became the envy of all aspiring basketball players. Soon after, All Stars were being worn by athletes in the Olympics and during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, American soldiers began to wear All Stars while in training.
In the 1960s Converse began to expand their company and open more factories and by that time, Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars were being worn by 90 percent of professional and college basketball players. As the years went on, the shoe gained more popularity and became a favorite for numerous groups and subcultures.

Design

In 1923, after Chuck Taylor

Chuck Taylor (salesman)

made improvements to the shoe, Converse decided to incorporate his name onto the ankle patch that displayed the Converse All Star logo. Then, in the 1930s Taylor’s signature was put into the design, which is how the shoe became known as the “Chuck Taylor” All Star. When first created, the Converse All Star had three main styles - a monochromatic shoe with a black canvas upper and black rubber soles, an all white shoe with blue and red trim, and an all black leather and rubber shoe. It wasn’t until after World War II when Converse decided to make the toe guard, laces and outer wraps white, which gave the appearance of the iconic black and white Converse All Stars of today. In the 1957, Converse came out with the low-cut “Oxford” version on the All Star and soon after started to produce the shoes in multiple colors. Today, Converse makes the Chuck Taylor All Star in a variety of colors, styles, prints and fabrics.

Controversy

In 2003, Nike

Nike, Inc.

Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

bought Converse for around $305 million. While Converse dominated the U.S. sneaker market from the 1920s until the 1970s, it began to struggle due to competition and lack of funds. In the years following, Converse filed bankruptcy multiple times and fell into further debt and eventually sold to Nike. Chuck Taylor All Stars as well as Converse's other shoes began to be manufactured in foreign countries like China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

and Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. Longtime Converse fans were against the change and some even stopped wearing the shoes. Nike’s manufacturing took place in Asia and many people took a stand against the sweatshop

Sweatshop

Sweatshop is a negatively connoted term for any working environment considered to be unacceptably difficult or dangerous. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for very low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may be violated. Sweatshops may have...

manufacturing of the shoes. Many also feared that Nike would change the look and status of All Stars and over-commercialize the shoes. A group named Adbusters

AdBusters

The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia...

started selling a knock-off shoe called the Black Spot, which covered up the logos of Converse with a black spot. Nike has not changed the look or advertisement of Converse since the buy in 2003 but controversy over Nike’s ties to Converse still exist.

In popular culture

Throughout the years, Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars made a shift from athletic sportswear to casual footwear. Originally an elite basketball shoe, the Chuck Taylor All Star evolved into the shoe of choice for many subcultures. The shoes were popular among many groups throughout the decades including greasers, athletes, punks, grunge rockers, alternative rockers, surfers, rappers and skaters.

Today, Chuck Taylor All Stars are worn by countless people from all cultures and styles and the shoe continues to be an iconic style marker.

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