Chuck Taylor All-Stars
Called Chuck Taylor All Stars, just as " Chucks", "Cons " or " Connies " were originally intended only as basketball shoes, but developed until now one of the most successful shoe fashions of the world. Since 1917, the now for Nike Group subsidiary company Converse has sold over 655 million copies of this sneaker world. Thus, the Converse Chucks are the most successful shoe model of the story. In 2008, the sale of the billionth pair was expected.
History
The first shoes with rubber soles and canvas upper ( " canvas " ) were produced from about 1860. From 1892 onwards produced a division of the United States Rubber Company under various brand names such shoes and brought in 1917 with the first mass- Keds mass production sports shoes out.
1908 Marquis Converse founded the Converse Rubber Shoe Company USA, which first produced hardy shoes and later sports shoes (basketball, tennis, fishing, football, wrestling ) and others. The first basketball shoes All Star brand came in 1917 in black on the market. Basketball was invented in 1891, was often played in dance halls with parquet floor and almost still in its infancy. 1921 began Chuck Taylor, a basketball player and Converse staff to advertise for his sport and the All- Star shoes. He had worn his first Chucks in 1918. In 1923 she had a round patch on the inside, at the ankles, with his name and called themselves now Converse All Star Chuck Taylor, which later the name was Chuck. The Patch was in the 1950 monochrome blue on white, was in the 1960s with two red colored and often regarded as the first signature on a basketball shoe. Later received for other sports shoes produced the signature Chuck Taylors on the shoe and / or on the package.
The success story of Chuck began after the American basketball team made it their official shoes. 1936 basketball was the first time an Olympic discipline, the American team won against Canada and captured the gold medal. 1939, the first NCAA championship game was held in which both teams wore Chuck Taylor All Stars. The shoe was a trend. In the U.S., the factor of domestic production was added. During the Second World War (USA after 1942 ) in addition to special aviator boots Chuck Taylor All Stars for basic military training were produced and are still mentioned in the lists of the military ordering system. Chuck Taylor was a fitness consultant at the Army during this time. As in 1949, the Basketball Association of America and merged the National Basketball League to the National Basketball Association, almost all players wore Chuck Taylor All Stars. At the time of the 1955/56 season, the Chucks are the number one basketball shoes. In the 1950s were generally inexpensive and easy to care for sports shoes, mainly in North America in general, " sneakers " called to everyday footwear of youth. From the late 1950s or early 1960s, smaller sizes for children were produced. Converse introduced in 1962 (the official company history, according to other sources 1957), the low-cut Chuck Taylor All Star Oxford one, which soon succeeded. Having to 1966 only black and white Chucks were produced, extended to the range to include seven additional colors (rainbow ). Before that, sometimes shoes were equipped with colored laces or even afterwards stained for color requirements of the basketball team. Later, other colors were added, some only for a certain period. By the end of the 1960 Converse held 90 % of the basketball shoe market. 1974 contributed to the major colleges and junior colleges, eight out of ten players Converse All- Star shoes. Based on the professional players went the shoe, however, further development, especially from the orthopedic standpoint for athletes and leather shoes. In 1988 Converse generated one-third of its sales with Chucks, basketball shoes and the Performance category.
By the 75th anniversary in 1992 about 500 million pairs of Chucks about half have been sold worldwide, including on markets outside the United States. In 2000, there were 570 million pairs.
The company Converse filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Then closed all the factories in the United States. It came to hoarding and the Chucks were hard to get. In previous years, production in Asia (China, Indonesia and Vietnam) had arisen in which the shoes were producing. Nike took over Converse in 2003 for $ 305 million.
Image / Mode
The fashionable image of the shoes formerly came from the direction of rebellion and individuality. You have a certain cult status, were " rediscovered " decades by several generations over and over again and are also seen repeatedly in stars of the music scene.
As sneakers in the 1950s, more and more became an everyday shoe youth, even for the sake of rebellion, the change came with the chucks. Among other things, there are photos of James Dean and Elvis Presley in these shoes. Especially James Dean contributed to the popularization of sneakers. When the Chuck Taylor All Star Oxford came out, they were worn by the Beach Boys, among others happy. The canvas and the rubber can be good with pen, edit, felt or paint pen. Many young people decorated their Chucks with slogans, band names or drawings. During the Flower Power movement you decorated the shoes with peace sign or put flowers in the Schuhbandösen. In the 1970s, Chuck experienced its first revival. Mick Jagger married in 1971 in a green suit and white Chucks. In addition to Dr. Martens, they spread also in the punk scene. A magazine wrote that Chuck is the only portable sneaker brand for a punk. The followers of the punk scene painted the shoes with anarchy symbols and mending the ailing parts with tape and safety pins until they finally blessed the temporal. Partial two shoes were worn with different colors. Some carriers have their Chucks, especially white, decorated with painted patterns themselves. The company resorted to this and in addition to the standard colors in various patterns. After the mainstream fashion wave subsided again soon, they were in the wake of grunge alternative wave in the early 1990s again a trend. By the retro trend of the year 2004, he received recently a resurgent importance in fashion. They are also quite popular with group-specific Emos. Also in the hip- hop scene, Converse Chucks enjoy popularity. So Chucks were the early 90s, in addition to bandanas and khaki pants, the hallmark of the West Coast rapper. Today, U.S. rapper Game carries on all of its three albums cover a couple. Since 2005, you can put together on the American website of Converse shoes with predetermined colors themselves, with different colors on a shoe for the two side panels and tongue. Meanwhile, they are also worn to business clothes, as by Ursula Plassnik a black / white crossword version to a black pantsuit. In the summer of 2007 wore Carine Roitfeld, editor of Vogue, at fashion shows in Milan golden Chuck Taylor All Star.
Appearance / variants
The appearance of the Chucks has hardly changed in the years between 1923 and today, however, the diversity has significantly increased. There are basically three options:
- Flat Chucks (LO, Ox), in which the ankle remain free, since 1957 ( according to the current company history since 1962)
- High Chucks (HI), which extend over the ankles, have been produced since the beginning
- Extra high Chucks (X -Hi, XXHi, Knee -HI, NEEHI ) are produced from about 1985 and be twice as high shaft. Some models are extra designed to putting the shaft to the height of Hi- Chucks down.
- Chucks with thin sole ( Slim), since 2008
- "Double Tongue" (since 2008)
- Ankle Boot (since 2006)
The shoes are mostly made of a linen fabric ( " canvas " ) (also in leather and other materials available ), a rubber sole, laces and the aforementioned circular patches and a ( white ) rubber tip on the toes. On the inside, two air holes provided with rivets are still attached. They are therefore very light, airy and can be easily carry in a warm and dry environment. Chucks are available in various colors and size 17 ( about six months old baby ) to 53
Imitations and variations of the Converse Chucks
The proliferation of Chucks led to similar products from other companies at cheaper prices. The appearance of these shoes is often almost identical to the Converse All-Stars, to an imitation of the typical round Aufnähers (now depending on the model, only one label), but this is in contrast to the original part on the outside.