History
1949-1969
The US Rubber Company made the first pair of rubber-soled canvas shoes called Keds in 1916. The brand became popular with athletes in the mid-1920s, and 1949 established Pro-Keds,
The first style of Pro-Keds was a canvas hi-top basketball shoe known as the Royal. Originally marketed as the “Sureshot”. In the early 1950s, George Mikan, basketball’s first true big man, endorsed the Royal and he and all his teammates on the 1953-1954 Minneapolis Lakers wore this shoe en route to an NBA Finals championship that season.
In 1969, Pro-Keds introduced the "Pro-Keds Super," which was also known as the 69er.
1970-1981
In the early 1970s, Pro-Keds introduced the Royal Master, also known as the Royal Plus. The shoe featured a rich suede upper, double power stripes, and a padded collar. It was available as both a high top and low top and earned credibility for both its performance elements as well as its key style features. Some of the game’s most exciting players including Pete Maravich, Nate "Tiny" Archibald, and Jo Jo White endorsed the shoe.
Over the course of this decade, Pro-Keds continued to diversify their footwear offerings. The Royal Edge, later known as the Royal CVO, was one of the brand's first lifestyle products.
In 1979 the Stride Rite Corporation acquired Keds (shoes) and their sister brand, Pro-Keds from Uniroyal, the successor to U.S. Rubber Co.
In the spring of 1980, Pro-Keds launched a collection of performance cupsole basketball shoes with the marquee model being the Shotmaker. The Shotmaker would be worn by Ralph Sampson and Gerald Henderson
In 1981 Sugar Ray Leonard became the newest face and spokesperson for the brand.
1982-2001
Throughout the 1980s, new styles were added across the categories of baseball, football, tennis, track and field. Pro-Keds also developed shoes using shock-absorbent support and cushioning.
2002–present
Since the early 2000s, Pro-Keds focused on their classic styles in a variety of colors and materials. The Pro-Keds line was anchored by five cornerstone styles (the Royal, the Royal Master, the Royal Plus, the 69er, and the Royal CVO).
In 2012, their parent company Stride Rite Corporation was acquired by Wolverine World Wide.
On February 3, 2014, Pro-Keds, now a subsidiary of Wolverine World Wide confirmed that it had discontinued the line.
On March 14, 2016, Pro-Keds relaunched globally.
Converse is an American shoe company that designs, distributes, and licenses sneakers, skating shoes, lifestyle brand footwear, apparel, and accessories. Founded in 1908, it has been a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. since 2003.
Adidas AG is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which consists 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern München, and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas' revenue for 2018 was listed at €21.915 billion.
Sneakers are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used for everyday casual wear.
Skate shoes or skateboard shoes are a type of footwear specifically designed and manufactured for use in skateboarding. While numerous non-skaters choose to wear skate shoes as they are popular in fashion, the design of the skate shoe includes many features designed especially for use in skateboarding, including a vulcanized rubber or polyurethane sole with minimal tread pattern or no pattern, a composition leather or suede upper, and double or triple stitching to extend the life of the upper material. A low, padded tongue is often included for comfort. The most important aspect of skate shoes is that they have flat soles which allow the skater to have better board control.
Chuck Taylor All-Stars or Converse All Stars is a model of casual shoe manufactured by Converse that was initially developed as a basketball shoe in the early 20th century. The design of the Chuck Taylor All Star has remained largely unchanged since its introduction in the 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.
Saucony is an American brand of athletic footwear and apparel. Founded in 1898, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. Products commercialised by Saucony include footwear and clothing ranges, such as athletic shoes, jackets, hoodies, t-shirts, sweatpants, shorts, and socks. Accessories include hats and backpacks.
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. or Wolverine Worldwide, is a publicly traded American footwear manufacturer based in Rockford, Michigan. The shoemaker is known for its eponymous brand, Wolverine Boots and Shoes, as well as other brands, such as Hush Puppies and Merrell. The company also manufactures licensed footwear for other firms, such as Caterpillar and Harley-Davidson. In 2012, Wolverine World Wide added Saucony, Keds, Stride Rite and Sperry Top-Sider to its list of brands, after acquiring the Performance Lifestyle Group of Collective Brands in a $1.23 billion transaction that also involved the sale of Payless ShoeSource and Collective Licensing International to private equity firms Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital.
Payless is an international discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, it became a public company as the Volume Shoe Corporation which merged with The May Department Stores Company in 1979. In the 1980s, Payless was widely known in the U.S. for its Pro Wings line of discount sneakers, which often had Velcro straps instead of laces. In 1996, Payless became an independent publicly held company. In 2004, Payless announced it would exit the Parade chain and would close 100 Payless Shoe outlets. On August 17, 2007, the company acquired the Stride Rite Corporation and changed its name to Collective Brands, Inc. The company had a total revenue for 2011 of US$ 3.4 billion. The company also has a stunt premium banner, Palessi Shoes. Payless is currently owned by a group of investors led by Alden Global Capital and Axar Capital Management.
A pump or plimsoll is a type of athletic shoe with a canvas upper and rubber sole developed initially as beachwear.
PF Flyers is an American brand of lifestyle shoes owned by Kassia Designs, LLC. Founded in 1937 by B.F. Goodrich, it is one of the original American sneaker brands.
Keds is an American brand of canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. The original shoe design, the Champion, was the first mass-marketed canvas-top "sneaker."
Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry. Sperrys, or Top-Siders, were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating and footwear markets. Today the Sperry brand is owned by Wolverine World Wide and is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Avia is an American footwear and clothing company that specializes in running, yoga and lifestyle activewear, shoes and accessories. Avia was founded in 1979 by Jerry Stubblefield, and is currently a subsidiary of the Sequential Brands Group.
Volley, formerly known as Dunlop Volley is a brand of athletic shoes manufactured by Brand Collective. Formerly, it was produced by Dunlop Sport (Australia), a sports equipment subsidiary of Pacific Brands, which separated the Volley brand into its Brand Collective Pty Ltd which was sold to private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners in November 2014.
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 Union Jack in its logo to signify the origins of the company. The company was bought by German sporting goods company Adidas in 2005. The company's global headquarters are now located in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Seaport District, with regional offices in Amsterdam, Montreal, Hong Kong, and Mexico City.
Stride Rite, formerly the Stride Rite Corporation and stylized in all lowercase, is an American children's footwear company. The company markets Stride Rite products globally through brand licensee Vida Shoes International.
Onitsuka Tiger is a Japanese sports fashion brand started in 1949 by Onitsuka Shōkai, a sports shoes company founded by Kihachiro Onitsuka. Onitsuka Shōkai changed its name several times before changing it to Asics Corporation in 1977. Since 1977, Onitsuka Tiger has been sold as a lifestyle brand of Asics.
Collective Brands, Inc. was an American holding company that owned Payless ShoeSource, Robeez and Airwalk. The company was purchased by Wolverine Worldwide, Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital in 2012.
Colchester Rubber Co. was a footwear brand manufactured by the Colchester Rubber Company.
The Hood Rubber Company was a rubber and shoes manufacturing company based in Watertown, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1896 by Frederic C. Hood and Arthur N. Hood. It merged with the B. F. Goodrich Company in 1929 to become a solely owned subsidiary of The B. F. Goodrich Company and continued to manufacture Hood and B. F. Goodrich footwear brands until the plant closing in 1969.
