About

Converse Pro Leather

In 1976 Converse did something it hadn’t done in nearly sixty years: it replaced canvas with leather. The Pro Leather was the response to a game of basketball that had become tougher and faster than the Chuck Taylor All Star could handle.

The star with the stripe

The identifying feature sits on the side panel: a star with a stripe running backwards from it. That combination is the trademark of this shoe and not of Converse in general — while the Chuck wears its circular patch on the ankle, the Pro Leather wears its star on the side.

Why leather took over

Canvas stretches and offers little lateral support. On a court where players constantly changed direction, that meant too little stability. Leather provided structure that stayed in place, and with a thicker sole underneath the whole became a shoe that could handle the game of the moment rather than that of 1917.

The shoe of an era

The Pro Leather is inseparably linked with the basketball stars of the 1970s, and thus became the model with which Converse made the transition from canvas to leather. Later it shifted from court to street and to skateboarding, where the flat sole and sturdy upper worked well. A monster that changed its skin.

On this page you can see which versions of the Converse Pro Leather are currently hottest according to the Hypescore, from what price they’re available and at how many shops they’re in stock.