A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with form originally being tied to function. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is still vulnerable to environmental hazards such as sharp rocks and temperature extremes, which shoes protect against. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots which are required footwear at industrial worksites.
Chuck Taylor All-Stars or Converse All Stars is a model of casual shoe manufactured by Converse that was initially developed as a basketball sneakers in the early 20th century. The design of the Chuck Taylor All Star has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in the early 1920s. The shoe consists of a stitched upper portion, a toe cap that is usually made of white rubber, and an outsole that is usually made of brown or tan rubber. Although Chuck Taylors are made of various materials such as leather or suede, the original and most widely known version of the shoe is made from cotton canvas. The innovative detail of the original shoe was the "loose lining" of soft canvas that was intended to provide flexibility and prevent blisters.
Tamara Mellon is a British fashion entrepreneur who co-founded the luxury footwear brand Jimmy Choo. Subsequently, Mellon founded her namesake luxury footwear brand, Tamara Mellon, with co-founder and CEO Jill Layfield and CDO Tania Spinelli in 2016.
K-Swiss, Inc. is an American athletic shoe brand based in downtown Los Angeles, California and currently owned by Xtep.
Miuccia Bianchi Prada is an Italian billionaire fashion designer and businesswoman. She is the head designer of Prada and the founder of its subsidiary Miu Miu. As of October 2021, Forbes estimated her net worth at US$4.8 billion. In June 2021, Bloomberg estimated her net worth to be $6.62 billion, ranked 464th in the world.
Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-'Amoudi is a Saudi billionaire businessman. He was born in Ethiopia in 1946 to a Yemeni father from Hadhramaut and an Ethiopian Muslim mother.
Reebok International Limited is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had been founded in 1895 in Bolton, Lancashire. From 1958 until 1986, the brand featured the flag of Great Britain in its logo to signify the origins of the company. The company was bought by German sporting goods company Adidas in 2005; Adidas then sold Reebok to Authentic Brands Group in 2021. The company's global headquarters are located in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Seaport District.
Vibram S.p.A. is an Italian company based in Albizzate, Italy, that both manufactures and licenses the production of Vibram-branded rubber outsoles for footwear. The company is named after its founder, Vitale Bramani, who is credited with inventing the first rubber lug soles. Vibram soles were first used on mountaineering boots, replacing leather soles fitted with hobnails or steel cleats which were commonly used up until then. The soles produced by Vibram are called Vibram soles, Vibram rubber or simply Vibram.
Sara Treleaven Blakely is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the founder of Spanx, an American intimate apparel company with pants and leggings, founded in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Blakely was named in Time magazine's "Time 100" annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2014, she was listed as the 93rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A., commonly known as Ferragamo, is an Italian luxury goods company headquartered in Florence. It specializes in designing and manufacturing footwear and leather goods, which together account for over 86% of its revenue. The remaining products include ready-to-wear, silk products, fashion accessories, and licensed eyewear, watches, and perfumes. It operates 447 mono-brand stores worldwide as of September 2022.
Chukka boots are ankle-high leather boots with suede or leather uppers, leather or rubber soles, and open lacing, with two or three pairs of eyelets. The name chukka possibly comes from the game of polo, where a chukka is a period of play.
Toms is a for-profit company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 2006 by Blake Mycoskie, an entrepreneur from Arlington, Texas, the company designs and markets shoes as well as eyewear, coffee, apparel and handbags.
Superga is an Italian brand of shoes founded in 1911. It originally made tennis shoes, including the famous model "2750 Classic" but then diversified.
Unity University is a private university in Ethiopia. It is the first privately owned institute of higher learning to be awarded full-fledged university status in Ethiopia by the Ministry of Education. It is also the first private university in the country to offer postgraduate programs leading to master's degree in business administration (MBA) and development economics (MA).
Blake Mycoskie is an American entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist. He is the founder of Toms Shoes and co-founder of Madefor.
Michele Romanow is a Canadian tech entrepreneur, television personality, board director and venture capitalist. She co-founded Clearbanc, a Toronto based provider of revenue sharing solutions to fund new online businesses, and other e-businesses, and made the list of 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada in 2015. She was named as one of the Forbes Top 20 Most Disruptive "Millennials on a Mission" in 2013 and Canadian Innovation Awards’ Angel Investor of the Year in 2018. Romanow joined the cast of CBC’s Dragons' Den in Season 10.
Oliberté is a Canadian shoe and bag brand that founded the world's first Fair Trade Certified factory, based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They closed the African factory in 2019 and are now made in Canada.
Wolf and Shepherd is a men's dress shoe company. The company designs and sells Italian leather dress shoes using technology found in running sneakers. Wolf & Shepherd was founded in 2014 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. In early 2017, Wolf & Shepherd relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles, California, where the company continues to operate.
SoleRebels is an International footwear company based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The company was created by Ethiopian entrepreneur Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu in 2005. The business is recognized for its ethical production, including Fair Trade practices and the use of sustainable materials in its manufacturing, particularly its use of recycled tires for the soles of its shoes.
