A Century of Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars
How the world’s first basketball shoe reimagined what a sneaker could be.
The Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star is a shoe that means different things to different people, but the legacy of the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star is heavily staked on one important claim to fame: it was the first shoe to be created for the sole purpose of being worn on the basketball court.
The story begins in 1908 when Marquis Mills Converse founded the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts. By 1917, the company’s first athletic shoes were ready. Dubbed ‘Non-Skids,’ the shoes featured a rubber sole and a canvas upper designed specifically for the hardwood. Just a few years later, Converse reached a turning point that would go on to change the world of basketball, sports marketing and footwear innovation.
Enter Chuck Taylor, a Converse salesman who joined the growing company in 1921. A former basketball player, Taylor suggested a number of critical design changes to the silhouette. A testament to his influence, the shoe was renamed after him in 1922, making the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star the very first athlete-endorsed sports shoe.
Chucks Become Chucks
Affectionately referred to as “Chucks” ever since, the shoes were markedly rudimentary for a performance item, at least by today’s standards. Originally produced in a high-top version followed by a low-top version starting in the 1950s, the shoe’s enduring legacy can be attributed to its instantly recognizable canvas upper, vulcanized rubber sole unit and rubber toe cap. The All-Star patch insignia (featuring Chuck Taylor’s signature scrawled in the middle of the star) sits on the medial ankle, a signature detail that has become revered over time.
To create buzz around Converse’s new shoe, Taylor traveled the country hosting local basketball clinics. As noted by Smithsonian Magazine, “Taylor hosted clinics to teach people the relatively new sport. Sporting goods stores sent representatives to the clinics to sell Converse All Star shoes to the captive audience—touting the kicks as the best basketball shoes around.” By the late 1920s, Taylor took on the role of player-manager for the All-Stars, a Chicago-based touring team that the Converse company sponsored to promote sales of its basketball shoes.
All-Stars Go Global
Basketball continued to grow in popularity and by 1936 the sport was ready for its Olympics debut. Beyond introducing Chuck Taylors to the global stage, The Games also marked the first appearance of one particular colorway: an iteration bearing a white base with blue and red details reminiscent of the Star-Spangled Banner, a color pairing that’s regarded to this day as among the most significant and popular.
The US Armed Forces picked up on the hardwearing versatility of the shoe, utilizing the Chuck Taylor as the official training shoe throughout World War II, broadening the shoe’s application and appeal. Experts on everything Americana, Heddels points out, “Just as with Champion’s sweatshirts, another sporty invention, Converse’s practical application was identified by the American Military at the advent of World War II. The war years, as with many other clothing pieces, democratized Converse. Millions of young men training for service wore the canvas high-tops.”
A decade after basketball’s inaugural appearance in the Olympics, the NBA was formed and by the late 1940s, most NBA players were lacing up Chuck Taylor All-Stars. Over the course of the next 30 years, Converse retained a sizable market share of basketball shoes, becoming the go-to footwear style for professional and college athletes until the 1970s.
Leather soon replaced canvas as the preferred material for performance basketball shoes and as the Chuck Taylor’s relevance on the hardwood began to dwindle, its subcultural importance took off on an opposite and upward trajectory.
Culture Embraces Converse
Chucks were adopted and embraced by a wide range of diverse subcultures, from punk rockers and hip-hoppers to skateboarders. Groups like The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and many others adopted the Chuck Taylor as part of their look, cementing it as a rock ‘n’ roll icon.
On California’s West Coast, names like N.W.A. and Snoop Dogg wrote a new chapter for the Chuck Taylor in the ’90s, a story still being written today by the likes of YG and others. Originally from Pittsburgh, hip-hop artist Wiz Khalifa even named his own record label, Taylor Gang, after the classic silhouette.
Well into the new millennium, the shoe continued to be spotted on the feet of international celebrities and style arbiters. A$AP Rocky and David Beckham are notable fans of the classic silhouette, while the shoe’s silver screen appearances include Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner in The Fast and the Furious, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven in Stranger Things, and Keanu Reeves as Ted “Theodore” Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.
Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars Today
In recent years, the Chuck Taylor has been reinterpreted and reimagined by some of the same musicians, designers and brands that were influenced and inspired by the simple silhouette over the course of their careers, including Martin Margiela, Tyler, The Creator, JW Anderson and Ronnie Fieg’s KITH. The result is a silhouette that’s become much more than a commodity: the Chuck Taylor All-Star has become a collectible in its own right.
Among dozens of noteworthy collaborations every year, among the most beloved was created by Japanese brand Comme des Garçons PLAY. Adorned with Filip Pagowski’s adorable PLAY heart design, this seasonally stocked update of the basic Chuck Taylor is now as common on the streets of Tokyo as it is in California backyards.
For sneakerheads, the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star represents a duality. It’s a wardrobe staple, a classic, a pair that has earned its spot on the shoe rack beside your front door. The timeless design of the Chuck Taylor also makes it a perfect canvas for creativity, a blank slate and a vehicle of expression for designers in the streetwear and luxury fashion spaces.
Virgil Abloh and Off-White were responsible for another seminal Chuck Taylor design in the sneaker’s nearly century-long lifespan. In 2018, Abloh worked with Nike, as well as subsidiaries Jordan Brand and Converse, to create a pack of 10 redesigned shoes, appropriately titled ‘The Ten.’ The collaboration reimagined the Chuck Taylor with Virgil Abloh’s signature Off-White treatment, featuring “VULCANIZED” text on the sole, a translucent upper and, of course, an Off-White zip-tie.
Acquired by Nike in 2003 for a purported $305 million, today Converse claims to sell 270,000 pairs of Chuck Taylors a day, 365 days a year. That works out to roughly 100 million pairs a year, making it one of the world’s most ubiquitous pieces of footwear. It’s no stretch to say the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star is an all-star in its own right, earning its place as an all-time classic in the history of footwear.