Brands

When the Marquis M. Converse founded Converse Rubber Shoe in Malden, Mass., in 1908, he didn’t realize that he was about to manufacture an American icon.

Throughout the 20th Century, Converse designed a whole range of high-quality sports shoes, including the shoe that revolutionized basketball, the Chuck Taylor ® All Star ®. From the 1950s, the model was to become the icon of an emerging culture that combined fashion, music and the youth culture with rebellious icons from the cinema and rock’n’roll and set the foundation for a new style for future generations.
And still today, in the 21st Century, the heritage of Converse – the true soul of American sport – continues to play a key role in sport and life.

Musical identity oblige, from Mick Jagger to Kurt Cobain, a whole story of love and rock has united Converse with the key figures of the world of music. Who better than the artistes to talk about and show the inextricable link that Converse has created with rock stars, the underground culture and tarmac. The training shoe worn by hippies and fans of proletarian rock and the counter-culture is a standard, just like jeans and Perfecto biker jackets. It became a cult item when it was worn by James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. This was followed by collaboration with some of the legends of British rock (The Who, Pink Floyd), and the pioneers of heavy metal (Metallica, AC/DC).

Converse remains the rock’n’roll brand, anti-establishment and without taboos.