If you take a look at most basketball shoes today, you'll see a bunch of space age materials, ultra light weight fabrics and maybe even some aerodynamics. However, if you took a little stroll down memory lane, you'll discover that the first real marketed basketball shoe was the Converse All-Star, which no balers wear these days.
Since it's original release in 1917, Converse has been the maker of the world's first shoe designed for basketball. The shoe really took off when basketball player, Chuck Taylor endorsed the shoe making it the standard for serious players. To this day, the shoe offers almost no padding and other than being a high top, gives the wearer no real athletic support. In fact, the one time athletic shoe now sells best among rockers and chances are you'll never see a pair of Chucks taking to the court.
While the design of Converse shoes has changed very little in almost 100 years, as a company Converse has grown by leaps and bounds. Aside from classic styles, Converse also makes several modern shoe styles and a complete line of clothing. In the past couple years, Converse saw an opportunity to get their name into the indie clothing game and ran with it. They welcomed designer, John Varvatos, to the team and gave him the go ahead to begin some higher end design for the brand.
The line, Converse by John Varvatos, is progressive and fashion forward with a preppy and clean-cut influence. The line features everything from tees and jeans to sweaters and jackets. Every item is made with the finest raw materials possible in limited quantities and with no aspect of comfort overlooked. As you may expect, these items can run a little on the pricey side, so save your pennies.