Sneakers

Sneakers as we’ve come to know them  got its start in the 18th century when people wore rubber soled shoes called plimsolls, interestingly enough there were no right foot or left foot. In 1892, Goodyear, a division of the U.S. Rubber Company began manufacturing canvas and rubber soled shoes under a variety of names but finally settled on Keds. Around 1916 these canvas and rubber shoes were mass produced and got the nick name of ‘sneakers’ because they made very little noise compared to shoes, people said you could sneak up on someone with them on. In 1917 a man named Marquis Converse created the first sneaker just for basketball called the Converse All-Star. Indiana basketball star Chuck Taylor endorsed by the sneaker in 1923 and they became know as the Chuck Taylor All-Stars. No longer used for basketball, the cult favorite Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers are perhaps the best selling basketball sneaker of all time.

In Germany, Adolf ‘Adi’ Dassler started a sneaker company named after himself, Adidas (Adi Dassler) after returning from World War I. In 1924, his brother Rudolf ‘Rudi’ Dassler joined the company which became known as  the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory. After some misunderstanding during World War II, the pair split up, Rudi went on to start “Ruda” named after him self “Rudolf Dassler” which was later renamed Puma. Adi stuck to his earlier self named company and registered it as “adidas AG“.

In 1964, University of Oregon track athlete Phillip (Phil) Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman started a company called Blue Ribbon Sports which initially distributed Onitsuka Tiger track sneakers. After making much of its initial sales at track meets out of Phil Knights car and with profits growing, BRS opened a retailer store on Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California in 1966.

The relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger came to an end in 1971, but BRS was already preparing its own line of footwear bearing its newly designed swoosh logo.  BRS released its first publicly available sneaker, a soccer sneaker named “Nike” during the Summer of 1971. In February 1972, BRS introduced Nike its first line of sneakers named after the Green goddess of victory and in 1978, BRS officially renamed itself Nike, Inc.

Nike is well known for their accidental waffle design after Bill Bowerman poured liquid urethane into his wife’s waffle iron during his experiments to created a better gripping sole for the University of Oregon track at Hayward Field. Bill Bowerman developed and refined the waffle sole into Nike’s first self-designed sneaker, the iconic Waffle Trainer in 1974.

Nike is also well known for their athlete-sponsorship deals as key a marketing tool, since their first endorsement deal with tennis player Ilie Nastase in 1978. Nike had been putting out basketball sneakers since 1972, but in the early 1980’s Nike faced a serious problem in the fast paced sportswear market. Nike suffered from the “white man jogging brand” image and had no credit in the basketball market. In 1984, they saw an opportunity with rookie basketball player Michael Jordan, which they signed to a $2.5 million deal for five years. Nike soon introduced the Air Jordan 1 which turned the sneaker industry upside down. While most basketball sneakers were mostly white, the Air Jordan 1 was a bold black and red which the NBA would banned from the league. Michael Jordan wore them anyway resulting in fines of upto $5000 a game, Nike happily paid those fines and in turn used this as a marketing opportunity. Since, the Air Jordan brand of sneakers has become the best selling basketball sneaker line since the Air Jordan 1.

Today, sneakers are worn both in athletic environments and as everyday comfortable footwear. Sneakers in the Sneaker News world is also a collected art which appreciates value similar to other collectible.

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WHERE TO BUY SNEAKERS

> Nikestore
The official store of Nike sneakers.

> Nikestore – Air Jordan
The official store of Air Jordan Sneakers

> Eastbay
One of the biggest online sneaker stores

> Finishline
One of the biggest online sneaker stores

> Footlocker
One of the biggest online sneaker stores.