Topic
Sneaker History
Chuck Taylor's name was added to the Converse All Star in 1932, after he spent years selling the shoe at basketball clinics across the country. Sneaker History starts there and works forward. The adidas Superstar arrived in 1969 with a rubber shell toe built for basketball, and Run-DMC made it a hip-hop uniform in the 1980s. Bruce Kilgore designed the Nike Air Force 1 in 1982. Peter Moore designed the Air Jordan 1 and the Dunk, both released in 1985, and the Dunk found a second life when Nike SB launched in 2002. Tinker Hatfield gave the Air Max 1 its visible Air unit in 1987. Vans put its side stripe on the Old Skool in 1977, and New Balance asked $100 for the 990 in 1982. The articles sort documented history from marketing legend, including the banned Air Jordan story, where the shoe the NBA actually objected to was largely the Air Ship. Original colorways, factory details and designers' names all count when you are judging how faithful a retro really is.
Stories
Sneakers4 min read
ASICS Gel-Kayano 14 and the Second Life of a 2008 Runner
In 2008 it was the 14th edition of a stability shoe. Twelve years later Kiko Kostadinov pulled it from the archive because it looked faster than the one before it.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
The adidas Superstar and the Shell Toe That Outran the Court
Built in 1969 to pry American basketball away from canvas, the shell toe found its real audience on the street. Then Run-DMC pulled the laces.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
SneakersFeature5 min read
Air Jordan 1, the 1985 Sneaker That Built a Culture
Peter Moore's red, black and white high top turned a rookie endorsement into the most influential sneaker ever made. The ban myth turns out to be the best part.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
New Balance 990 and the $100 Grey Runner That Never Left
In 1982 New Balance put a three figure price on a grey suede runner. Six versions later, the 990 is the shoe the fashion world borrowed from dads.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Nike Air Max 95, Sergio Lozano's Anatomy Lesson in Neon
Sergio Lozano built a running shoe out of a spine, a rib cage and muscle. London named it after its price tag. Tokyo started robbing people for it.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Culture4 min read
Kith and Ronnie Fieg, From Stock Boy to Store Empire
Three pairs of Asics, 252 of each, and a cereal bar. Ronnie Fieg turned a sneaker buyer's eye into one of the most watched retail brands in the world.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Nike Air Max 1 and the Window That Changed Sneakers
In 1987 Tinker Hatfield cut a hole in a midsole and let everyone see the cushioning inside. The Air Max 1 made engineering the main event.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Nike Dunk History, From College Colors to the Pigeon Riot
The Dunk was a 1985 team shoe that basketball forgot. Skaters, Japanese collectors and Sandy Bodecker's Nike SB turned it into the most hunted sneaker of the 2000s.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66, From Kobe to Kill Bill
A 1960s training shoe, a set of crossed stripes drawn for Mexico City and a yellow pair in a Tarantino film. Even the name is younger than the shoe.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Culture4 min read
Supreme and the Rise of the Drop Model
A Lafayette Street skate shop turned Thursday mornings into a ritual, scarcity into a business plan and a $30 brick into a collectible.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Converse Chuck Taylor and the Salesman Behind the Signature
The All Star came first, in 1917. The name on the ankle patch belonged to a salesman whose playing career was mostly a story he never corrected.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
The adidas Samba, From Frozen Pitches to Every Fashion Week
Adi Dassler built it so footballers could train on frozen ground. Seventy-odd years later a British prime minister had to apologize for wearing a pair.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Nike Air Force 1 and the Baltimore Stores That Saved It
Nike killed the Air Force 1 in 1984. Three shops in Baltimore refused to let it go, and the shoe has barely been out of production since.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Vans Old Skool and the Doodle That Became the Sidestripe
In 1977 Vans put a stray line on the side of a skate shoe called Style 36. It turned a small Anaheim shoemaker into a brand you can spot from across a park.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Culture4 min read
Inside the Sneaker Resale Economy, From Flight Club to StockX
A pair of shoes can change hands several times before anyone wears it. The machinery runs from the consignment wall to the authentication bench.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Sneakers4 min read
Salomon XT-6 and How an Ultra Shoe Ended Up in Paris
The XT-6 was built for runners racing a hundred miles through mountains. Then someone at Salomon found a box of them in the archive and changed the colors.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
Culture3 min read
Fear of God and Jerry Lorenzo, the Long T-Shirt That Built a Label
A ballplayer's son with an MBA and no fashion training made extra-long tees, caught Kanye West's eye and taught American luxury to relax.
By Quiet Menace Editors /
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