The History And Complete Evolution Of Sneakers As A Fashion Item

Sneakers are arts. They represent your identity. With the evolution and changes, sneakers are available in various shapes, designs, colours, and sizes depending on what you want.

It is a widely accepted fashion item that is worn by everybody from athletes, musicians, actors, models, and even kids. Today with iconic designs and brands, sneakers have influenced the market, and sneakerheads are ready to hop on any new design and brand.

There are thousands of shoe stores. So with review platforms like UK Collected Reviews it has been made easy to go through these shoe store reviews to know the type of products they sell and if they fit your identity.

Ever wondered how your favourite shoe brand came along? Read further to find out. 

History of Sneakers

In the 18th century, people wore rubber-soled shoes called Plimsolls, which had no left foot or right foot. In 1892, rubber companies in the US manufactured comfortable rubber sneakers called Keds, and by 1917, there was a massive production of these sneakers. This same year, Marquis Converse produced the first basketball shoes called Converse All-Stars. In 1924, sneakers went global. A German man named Adi Dassler created the Adidas brand which became one of the most popular athletic shoes in the world that Jessie Owens also wore when he won gold medals in the 1936 Olympics.

In 1950, culture evolved and sneakers outgrew being used for sports only and became a fully-fledged fashion shoe after the actor James Deans was featured in a movie with sneakers.

The Evolution of Sneakers

As sports stars embraced the idea of the sneaker, they wanted creativity and bold impressions on their shoes and manufacturers had no choice than hiring the best designers to compete with other brands. A few popular sneakers innovation of all time are;

  1. Puma Clyde: It was released in 1973. The shoe was designed to channel the 1970s cool NBA All-star and champion Walter Frasier. His lavish dressing and lifestyle influenced the Puma design.
  2. The Nike Air-force 1: It was released in 1982 by Bruce Kilgore, a legendary Nike designer. He got his inspiration from the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France which later became one of the best selling sneakers
  3. The Nike Air Max1: The Nike Air Max was released in 1987 and was influenced by Tinker Hatfield Jr. He got his inspiration from the design of the Pompidou centre in Paris, France.
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Every passing day, designers get inspired and influenced by various objects and places. Sneakers evolved from being functional in sports only to a designated fashion item – becoming one of the most widely accepted market mediums that ever existed. From influencing the style of pop culture, hip-pop was the trigger in making sneakers a part of fashion items. As listeners with favourite musicians would imitate them and wear the same shoes.

Several artists collaborated with brands, releasing songs and having their own version of their sneakers. Jay Z collaborated with Reebok, which made the style more available to the public, and Rihanna’s collaboration with PUMA had a huge impact on how younger females viewed sneakers.

From being more than streetwear, sneakers became a luxury item with the affordability of several brands like Nike, Adidas competing with Louis Vuitton, Prada, and more luxury brands. One thing that distinguished these luxury brands from street-wear is the huge price tags and limited shoes sold. But now fashion is accessible from various levels from street-wear, sportswear, skating, and other occasions which have contributed to the growing trend and freedom to create more designs, shoes, and colour combinations.

Having an understanding of how sneakers came about will help you value them, and appreciate them more. We hope this has helped.

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