The Chuck Taylor All Star

A canvas shoe for a new sport

Converse started out in 1908 making rubber shoes in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1917 it introduced a canvas high-top with a rubber sole built for basketball, a game that was barely 25 years old. It was called the All Star.

The shoe sold, but not spectacularly, until a young player from Indiana walked into the company's Chicago office looking for work.

Who was Chuck Taylor?

Charles "Chuck" Taylor had played semi-pro and barnstorming basketball. Converse hired him as a salesman in the early 1920s, and he turned out to be brilliant at it. He drove from town to town running basketball clinics for high school and college teams, teaching the game and selling shoes in the same visit.

He also suggested design tweaks for grip and support. In 1932 Converse added his signature to the ankle patch, and the shoe became the Chuck Taylor All Star. He was not a famous pro; he was a salesman whose name ended up on hundreds of millions of shoes.

Taylor even ran a yearly basketball yearbook for Converse that rounded up teams, players and coaching tips, which kept the brand in front of coaches across the country. For years the All Star was also the shoe US teams wore at the Olympics.

Ruling the court

For decades Chucks were simply what basketball players wore, from schoolyards to the pros. Wilt Chamberlain is widely reported to have worn them on the night he scored 100 points in 1962. Taylor was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969, the year he died.

By the 1970s, leather shoes with more cushioning began pushing canvas off the court, and brands like Nike and Adidas took over the game.

From hardwood to street style

Losing the court did not kill the Chuck. Punk bands, skaters, artists and students adopted it as a cheap, simple shoe that looked good beaten up. Nike bought Converse in 2003, and the All Star is still sold in countless colors. Few products of any kind have stayed this close to their original design for over a century.

Collaborations with designers and artists keep the silhouette fresh, and vintage pairs from the mid 20th century are prized by collectors. A shoe sold by a traveling salesman became a symbol of rebellion, art and everyday cool.

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