About

Converse Chuck Taylor All Star

It has run since 1917, making it one of the longest-lived shoe models in the world. Canvas, rubber, a toe cap and almost nothing else, the All Star was never overtaken by its own successors, and for a sports shoe well over a century old that is a strange achievement.

The man on the patch was a salesman

Chuck Taylor was a basketball player, but his name is not on there because he played so well. In 1921 he went to work for Converse, traveled the country and gave clinics at high schools and colleges. He sold the shoe by explaining it, and passed on improvements along the way. In 1932 his signature went on the ankle patch. That is the rare case where the salesman became the monument.

Everything on this shoe had a function

That round patch on the ankle was not there for looks: it protected the ankle bone against contact on the court. The rubber toe cap took the scuffing on the push-off. Under the sole sits a diamond tread meant to grip a wooden floor, and inside each shoe two metal eyelets let air through. In 1936 the American basketball team stood in them at the Olympic Games in Berlin.

Driven off the court, adopted on the street

When leather and technical soles took over basketball, the Chuck lost its job. Instead of disappearing it crept into the basements: punk, skate and grunge picked it up, precisely because it was cheap, flat and unadorned. A creature that survived by changing habitats.

The family

The Chuck 70 is a reconstruction to 1970s specifications: heavier canvas, a higher rubber foxing, a glossy toe cap. The All Star Hi and the All Star Low are the high and low base versions, and the All Star Lift sets the silhouette on a thicker sole.

On this page you can see which versions of the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star are running hottest right now according to the Hypescore, from what price they’re available, and how many shops have them in stock.