Chuck Taylor All-Stars

A pair of dark blue canvas Chuck Taylor All-Stars

Chuck Taylor All-Stars or Converse All Stars (also referred to as "Converses", "Chuck Taylors", "Chucks", "Cons", and "All Stars") is the brand name for a pair of casual shoes developed and produced by Converse, which has been a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. since 2003.

The design of the Chuck Taylor All-Star has remained largely unchanged since its introduction. The shoes consist of a stitched upper portion, a toe cap usually made of white rubber, and a sole that is usually made of brown rubber. Although Chuck Taylors are made of various materials such as leather, the original and most widely known version of the shoe is made from cotton canvas. The innovative detail of the original shoe was the "loose lining" of soft canvas. This was intended to move along with sweaty gym socks and prevent blisters.

An improved model, the Chuck Taylor II, was announced by company management in July 2015.^[1] Incorporating Nike technology, it retains the outward appearance of the original while employing a modern lightweight material for the insole.^[1]

History

Ad from 1920 for the forerunner of the Chuck Taylor All Star, Converse "Non-Skids."

Converse Rubber Shoe Company was created by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1917, the company designed the forerunner of the modern All Star, marketed under the name "Non-Skids." The shoe was composed of a rubber sole and canvas upper and was designed to be a high performance athletic shoe for basketball players.

In 1923, American basketball player 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 country and while teaching the fundamentals of the game, he sold the All Star shoes.^[2] 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.

A variety of professional basketball players soon wore All Stars and they 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 American soldiers began to wear All Stars while in training.^[3]

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 ninety percent of professional and college basketball players.^[4] As the years went on, the shoe gained more popularity and became a favorite for numerous groups and subcultures.

Throughout the years, Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars made a shift from athletic sportswear to casual footwear.^[4] Originally an elite basketball shoe, the Chuck Taylor All Star evolved into the shoe of choice for many subcultures, particularly artists and musicians.^[1]

Tree Rollins was thought to be the last player to wear canvas Converse All Stars in the NBA, during the 1979–1980 season.^[5][6] Micheal Ray Richardson briefly wore leather Converse All Stars with the New Jersey Nets after 1982, making him the next to last to wear the shoe in the NBA.^[7] However, it was teammate Mickey Johnson who was the last to wear All Stars in the NBA, when he played for the Nets in the 1985-1986 season (it is undetermined at this time whether they were leather or canvas).^[8]

Nike acquisition

In 2003, Nike bought the Converse brand name for around $305 million.^[9] While Converse dominated the US sneaker market from the 1920s until the 1970s, it began to struggle due to competition and lack of funds.^[3] In the years following, Converse filed for bankruptcy multiple times and fell into further debt and was eventually sold to Nike. Chuck Taylor All Stars as well as Converse's other shoes moved manufacturing from the US to countries like China, India, Vietnam and Indonesia.^[3]

Lawsuit

Starting in July 2008, Converse tried to send around 180 cease-and-desist letters to over 30 other companies who Converse says to be violating the Chuck Taylor All Star trademark and selling "knock off look-alike" sneakers.

In October 2014, Converse filed a lawsuit against 30 companies for allegedly infringing on its sneaker style’s bumper toe, striped midsole and toe cap. The brand argued that companies were violating a common-law trademark by importing “knockoff” sneakers with similar elements. A number of companies settled with Converse and they were dropped from the list.[17][18]

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 for it not be mistaken for Chuck Taylor All-Stars.[19] 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, ironically on the 47th anniversary of the death of Chuck Taylor, 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. This case is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Design

A pair of white low-cut All Star sneakers, showing the current back heel logo

In 1923, after Chuck Taylor made improvements to the shoe, Converse decided to incorporate his name onto the ankle patches 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.^[3] 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 was not until 1949 that 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 1957, Converse came out with the low-cut "Oxford" version of the All Star and soon after started to produce the shoes in multiple colors and prints. Today, Converse makes the Chuck Taylor All Star in a variety of colors, styles, prints and fabrics.

While the high-cut shoes feature the iconic ankle patch All Star logo, the heel of the shoe (both high and low-cuts) also includes the logo, which is glued on and reads: ALL★STAR. The low-cuts do not feature the ankle patch; however, they have a tag stitched on the tongue which has the same logo as the heel.^[10] In 2013, the logo has slightly altered on the heel and tongue. It contains the word "CONVERSE", in addition to ALL★STAR. The ankle patches of the high-cut shoes are unchanged.

In early 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 due to 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.^[11]

Chuck II with knit canvas

Chuck II

On July 28, 2015, Converse released the Chuck Taylor All Star II. This shoe differed from the standard, modern All Star in several ways:^[12]

• a thicker Tencel canvas;
• a higher rubber midsole and foxing similar in size to the All Star '70, but using lighter weight rubber;
• a new 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.

A few months after the release of the Chuck II, some special series were released with different canvas textures, like the Chuck II Knit, the Chuck II Shield Canvas and the Chuck II Rio Open Knit, to celebrate the Rio Olympics.^[13]

One year after the release, the Chuck II was considered a commercial failure, with retailers reporting poor sales.^[14]

Converse Modern

In June 2017, Converse announced a new line of sneakers for release in America, designed by Hiroshu Fujiwara, Tinker Hatfield, and Mark Parker. Both a hi-top and a low-top range are planned, with the initial colors being silver, royal blue,^[15] red, green, and black.^[16] A Luxe range in white or black patent leather is also planned, for business casual wear.^[17] These shoes followed the classic Chuck Taylor design but featured the following improvements:^[18]

• Circular knit upper, with futuristic shiny finish.^[19]
• A cushioned foam rubber sole similar to the Air Jordans.
• Neoprene tongue.
• TPU fused toecap.^[20]

Sociocultural impact

Although Chuck Taylor All-Stars vanished from the professional basketball scene completely by 1979, they continued to flourish in popular culture and fashion. As fashion icons, Chuck Taylors have played a role in several subcultures, and the company has in turn promoted this as part of the shoes' cachet. Converse has used Chuck Taylor All-Stars to enhance the brand's cultural and subcultural relevance. Chuck Taylor All-Stars proved their continuity throughout the 20th and 21st centuries through their portrayal in film, art, and music culture, as well as through use in sports sub-culture including weightlifting.

Music

Converse All-Stars established and maintained their presence in the rock and roll and punk rock communities via popular musical artists including Avril Lavigne, Elvis Presley, The Ramones, Grateful Dead, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, Hootie and the Blowfish, Green Day, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Jason Mraz, Miley Cyrus, The Strokes, and the Rolling Stones. Chucks can be seen throughout multiple music videos, ranging from 1980s grunge to 2013 hit "Wrecking Ball", by Miley Cyrus. In the 1993 Snoop Doggy Dogg song "Lodi Dodi", Snoop makes reference to the famous shoe with the line "Threw on my white sox, with my all blue chucks" referring to his White Sox baseball cap and his all blue Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars. Due to the prevalence of musicians wearing Chucks, as part of the Converse Century Project the company began issuing models of the shoe which recall specific musicians.^[21]

Film and television

Nearly five hundred films and television shows feature actors in a leading or main supporting role wearing Chucks.^[22][23] David Tennant wore three different colored pairs of Chuck Taylors throughout the British TV show Doctor Who, when he played the Tenth Doctor, and the titular character in the American TV show Chuck (TV series), played by Zachary Levi, wore Chucks throughout the course of the series. Chucks made many appearances in other notable films such as The Sandlot, Grease, The Right Stuff, Rocky, Over The Edge, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Stand By Me (film), The Outsiders (film), Get A Clue, Bruce Almighty, Jurassic World, I, Robot, Sin City, worn by Elvis Presley in Follow That Dream, Bridge to Terabithia, Change Of Habit, and A Beautiful Mind.

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.^[24]

Powerlifting

Although originally intended as a basketball shoe, powerlifting athletes have embraced Chuck Taylors as ideal for the sport.^[25] Chucks have flat, rubber soles that enforce correct posture on movements such as deadlifts, squats, and bench presses. 71-year-old Pete Bennett set a world record for the squat in his age class at 465 lbs in a pair of Chuck Taylors.^[25] The canvas material allows powerlifters to push their feet to the outside on squats which helps keep their knees out and activates their glutes.^[26] The low-top Chuck Taylors provide complete ankle mobility, as the canvas does not cover the ankles.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chuck Taylor All Star II.

• Official website