Chuck Taylor All-Stars: The coolest shoes in the world!

Marquis Mills Converse founded 1908 the footwear company Converse and started to produce the well-known sports shoes. The shoes were not particularly popular until basketball player Chuck Taylor adopted them as his preferred shoe. After proposing a few changes to the shoe, the shoe got its current name.

But the real change happened around the late 1940ties/early 1950ties when the shoes became popular within the different subculture e.g. the rockabillies ort he Californian surf dudes. And ever since they are an expression of a lifestyle: it is the rebellion worn on your foot, it is rock, it is relaxed, it is sexy.

And as the footwear of the youth rebellion cannot be a uniform, the consumers demanded more variety from the shoe. So coloured and patterned shoelaces became popular to complement the two colours, blacks and whites, available before 1966. Afterwards, more colours and styles became available. Low-top or "Oxford", high-top, and later knee-high, versions were produced. More materials were offered for the construction, including leather, suede, vinyl, denim, and hemp. Some versions of the shoe were offered without laces, held up instead by elastic. These new versions of the shoe were also co-designed by Chuck Taylor, just before his death in 1969.

Fans of punk rock have adopted the shoe as a fashion trend since the late 1970s and many popular punk rock bands, such as the Ramones, have supported the trend by wearing the sneakers.

All-Stars became popular again in the '90s to fans of the world as famous grunge band Nirvana emulated the band's frontman Kurt Cobain, who had worn All-Stars for many years prior to the 90's due to the influence of different punk rock bands he enjoyed in his youth. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello was (and still is) also known for commonly wearing Chucks, and U2 guitarist The Edge has been seen wearing All-Stars onstage in recent years. Jackass star Johnny Knoxville is also known for his signature black hi-top All-Stars.

Today the shoes are very popularly worn by children, teenagers, and young adults of both sexes. The shoes are available in several core colors, seasonal colors, and a variety of print styles. Due to the texture and unique designs, Converse are favoured globally.