I don’t allow expectations and limitations set by others to define or stop me from what I can do,” Gaston shares. Unfortunately, the exact date Converse debuted their first collection of basketball footwear is lost to history. However, the earliest catalogue in the archive that features ‘Basket Ball’ shoes is from 1916. The first range included a series of canvas high-tops in different styles, including the ‘Surefoot’ and the ‘Big Nine’, but the early favourite was a style simply called the ‘Non-Skid’. a b The Dallas Morning News (2001-01-23). "Bob Ford". Apse.dallasnews.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28 . Retrieved 2012-03-13. It was an athlete’s dream shoe: the All-Stars by Converse were comfortable enough for players to use on the court, but versatile enough that they could also be worn outside. It is also for these reasons that the shoe became popular with an entirely different and emerging subculture. An Instant Punk Classic a b "Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame Members" (PDF). National Sporting Goods Association . Retrieved August 8, 2018.

Taylor joined Converse’s sales force in Chicago, although there are mixed accounts of what prompted him to do so. Some say that he loved the All Star shoes so much that he wanted to work for Converse. But the Basketball Hall of Fame, which lists Taylor as a member, says that in 1921, he “hobbled into the Converse Chicago sales office complaining of sore feet and persuaded executives to create a shoe especially for basketball.” By the end of the 60’s and the beginning of the 70’s, the whole punk subculture had started forming and fermenting, led by bands such as the Sex Pistols and The Ramones. The punks concerned their lifestyle and their music around one thing: going against the “Establishment”, violently rejecting Capitalism in all its forms, and going against the grain of “polite” society in every turn. Photo from beautifulrecovery – Pixabay

All Star: Timmy Albert 

The competitiveness in him is still there, though. Apart from his music career, Timmy also competes in esports tournaments representing his alma mater. After graduation, instead of heading off to college, Taylor launched his semi-pro career playing basketball with the Columbus Commercials. He’d go on to play for a handful of other teams across the Midwest, including the the Akron Firestone Non-Skids in Ohio, before finally moving to Chicago in 1922 to work as a sales representative for the Converse Rubber Shoe Co. (The company's name was eventually shortened to Converse, Inc.)

In the 1800s, New England became the epicentre of America’s Industrial Revolution, largely thanks to the region’s abundance of swift streams that could power large factories. By the turn of the 20th century, the area had established itself as a hotbed for textiles manufacturing – giving birth to a number of footwear companies that still exist today. It was during that time that Marquis Mill Converse, a New Hampshire native, decided to leave his job managing a footwear company and start his own business. In 1908, he opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, and began production. In addition to selling Converse All Star shoes and conducting basketball clinics, Taylor contributed to the development of the sport in other ways. In 1935 he invented a "stitchless" basketball that was easier to control. [4] Taylor also promoted basketball internationally. When basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936, he designed a white high-top model with blue and red trim for the 1936 Olympic Games. [ citation needed] The Converse All Star shoe remained the official shoe of the Olympics team from 1936 to 1968. [1] World War II military service [ edit ] In addition to his myriad other job duties, Taylor played for and managed the All-Stars, a traveling team sponsored by Converse to promote their new All Star shoes, and launched and helped publish the Converse Basketball Yearbook, which covered the game of basketball on an annual basis. a b c "Converse timeline" (PDF). Converse.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14 . Retrieved 2012-03-13. He loved the game [of basketball]. He loved being a part of it. He put on clinics all over the country, helping kids learn how to play a little bit better," said Dean, who later served as the athletic director at Louisiana State University and is in the College Basketball Hall of Fame.With its just launched ‘Breaking Barriers’ campaign, Converse hopes that the diverse team they have put together inspires Filipinos at a time when we all need it most. a b Margo DeMello (2009). Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: Macmillan. pp.80–82. ISBN 9780313357152.

That kind of success seemed impossible in 1969 when Converse pulled Taylor out of retirement to visit his friend and fellow Indiana native John Wooden. Taylor made his debut as a semi-professional basketball player on March 19, 1919, playing for the Columbus Commercials when he was seventeen years old. (Taylor played as a substitute for another of the team's players during the final three minutes of the game, but he scored no points.) [2] After the Columbus Commercials disbanded the following season, Taylor continued to pursue a career in professional basketball, which included playing for the Akron Firestone Non-Skids, a semi-professional team, as well as other semi-professional teams in Detroit, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. [6] Although Taylor played on professional and semi-professional teams for eleven seasons, no records have been located that confirm Taylor's link to playing for the Buffalo Germans and Original Celtics as some have claimed. Taylor did not clarify the assertions. [7] As with so many iconic designs that have gone on to be adopted by youth tribes and various countercultural groups, its charm is its reliable simplicity, its trusty classicism. Its upper is an unchanging blank canvas upon which the wearer can choose to apply any sort of meaning or mantra – in some cases this is taken literally, with people even customising the shoe’s rubber outsole with scribbles and slogans in marker pen. This openness to interpretation has lent the shoe a rare cross-generational, cross-genre appeal that has spanned from Los Angeles gang-bangers to Seattle grunge-kids, Hunter S. Thompson to the modern-day Hypebeast. As such, it has come to occupy a rare space in the world of fashion, having touched on multiple subcultures whilst managing to transcended fleeting trends. In 2017, it is notable for being the antithesis to trend-led fashion – respite from fashion’s whims in the form of footwear.Joe Dean worked for Converse for nearly 30 years, ending his tenure as a vice president. When Dean was hired in 1959, Taylor was already a giant at the company and in the world of basketball. He went years without having a house or an apartment or anything. He lived out of a hotel 365 days a year. And that was happy for him. Christmas Day was just another day to him. Converse paid for Christmas. They were just glad he didn’t ask for a little extra change for his name," Dean said, laughing. Charles Taylor was born in 1901, just ten years after Dr. James Naismith is credited with inventing the game of basketball. Taylor grew up in Columbus, Indiana and played for the Columbus High Bull Dogs. He graduated in 1919 and eventually landed in Akron, Ohio where he played for the Firestone Non-Skids, a semi-pro team owned by the tire manufacturer. But in 1922, he accepted a job as a salesman at Converse, and basketball was a critical part of his position. Freeman, Scott (April 2006). "The Shoes Make The Man". Indianapolis Monthly. Indianapolis, Indiana: Emmis Communications: 32 . Retrieved 2018-08-08. Despite the cultural cache these musicians provided, for years Converse fought against any association to any genres or subculture. The company no doubt felt the relationships diluted the brand, and fought to maintain itself as a performance shoe designer, despite all the evidence to the contrary. More than 60 years after its flagship model was introduced, the sneaker was vastly outdated, a relic of a bygone time. While it had outlived its reign as a performance sneaker, the shoe found new life as a casual lifestyle sneaker, a reto favorite. By the '90s, when Nike and adidas sales dwarfed Converse, the All Star was still favorite among artists and musicians, and Converse finally began to cave, embracing its newfound cultural standing. By the shoes' 80th anniversary, Converse had sold more than 600 million pairs.

After leaving the All-Stars, Taylor continued to publicize his shoe—and own personal brand—by hobnobbing with customers at small-town sporting goods stores and making “special appearances” at local basketball games. There, he’d be included in the starting lineup of a local team during a pivotal game. Charles Hollis Taylor was born on July 24, 1901, and raised in southern Indiana. Basketball—the brand-new sport invented by James Naismith in 1891—was beginning to take the Hoosier State by storm. Taylor joined his high school team, the Columbus High School Bull Dogs, and was named captain. In 1950 Taylor moved to Los Angeles, California. He also continued to travel to military bases and in 1957 made a trip to South America on behalf of the U.S. State Department. [21] In 1958 he was inducted into the Sporting Goods Hall of Fame. [22] Later years [ edit ] One such culture where the shoe has had a profound presence has definitely been music and for 22-year-old up and coming artist Timmy Albert, it’s one that holds great significance.DeMello, Margo (2009). Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: Macmillan. pp.80–82. ISBN 9780313357152. That fits in with other accounts that suggest the sneaker was initially designed not for basketball at all, but for soccer and a basketball-esque sport called “netball.” As the United States entered the Second World War in 1941, the vast majority of Converse’s production became focused on supporting the war effort. Only a small quantity of All Stars were available to the public during WWII. Made with ‘wartime construction techniques’ that used minimally rationed materials, they did not last long under the stress of basketball. Because of this, Converse has yet to find a single example from this period for their official archive. Meanwhile, 23-year-old volleyball star Ponggay Gaston is another one who refuses to be boxed in. Playing for the blue and white, her infectious energy and willingness to do whatever it takes to win has endeared her to fans throughout her college career. We all saw how the young athlete was tasked to adjust to a variety of positions, which she had to learn to play. And she did so remarkably well. Taylor's first wife was Ruth Adler (Actress), a former Hollywood actress who appeared in films such as Bringing Up Baby (1938) and Design for Scandal (1941). They married on May 26, 1950, in Carson City, Nevada, and settled in Los Angeles, California. The couple separated in 1955 and divorced in 1957. [5]