The world of sneakers is parallel to the world of music. Music of the 60s to the early 90s is more timeless than music of today and consequently the best selling. The same goes with sneakers. Music has Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, 2Pac etc. Sneakers have Nike’s Air Force One, the Carvella, the Timberland boot and of course the Converse ALLSTAR. It’s been kickin’ it since 1917 and is still strong in today’s new age market.
Made famous by basket baller Chuck Taylor who is possibly the reason for its great success, Converse never really grew out of its baby shoes. They’ve basically kept the same design and made minor adjustments like adding more material or merely getting a teenager to paint pretty shapes on it. One has to applaud the brand for making a success out of one shoe type for so many years but in the same breath critique its failure on some level not to introduce entirely new versions from Converse. This failure was highlighted by the bankruptcy that Converse suffered in 2001. And now Nike owns their ass and has also kept a bit to the same design but added fresh kicks to their line.
I’ve never been a fan of the classic ALLSTAR, to me the shoe has a ghetto feel to it and I’ve never even tried one on to see if it would suit me. I do not dislike the shoe, it suits amaPantsula and some other thin n**** but not people like me. I own a pair of cream and brown Converse Weapons which I’ve only worn once, the day I received them as a gift, and never again will I wear them. The only Converse shoes I would ever wear are these…
The ALLSTAR Cup Collection Thank God Nike took over when it did or I would never have given the shoes a second glance. But the original look and feel of the ALLSTAR still lurks in these. Will they ever be brave enough to bring in something entirely different?
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The tiger himself