Converse

The Converse Rubber Company was founded in 1908 by Marquis M. Converse in the US. Initially, only making galoshes and seasonal shoes. In 1915 the company decided to make athletic shoes to enable year-round production. As basketball evolved, their basketball shoe became popular when high school basketball star Chuck Taylor began wearing them. In 1921 his signature was added to the design. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Converse faced considerable competition from other shoe manufacturers and began developing aesthetically-oriented models, still highly profitable today.