from tEnnis sHoEs to trACk
The earliest sports shoes were created by The Liverpool rubber Company , founded by John Boyd Dunlop , in the 1830s . Dunlop was an innovator who discovered how to bond canvas uppers to rubber soles . These were known as sandshoes and worn by Victorians on their beach excursions .
Historian Thomas turner defines the latter decades of the 19th century as a time when industrial progress and social change were twinned with a growing enthusiasm for sporting pursuits , in particular lawn tennis . This resulted in the need for a more specialised type of footwear , which Dunlop ’ s rubber sole could fulfil . Dunlop launched their now iconic , green flash model in 1929 , which was worn by tennis legend fred Perry at Wimbledon .
other significant sports shoes of the 20th century included the Converse All star , designed for basketball . However , it is Adidas and nike that have both shaped the sneaker ’ s evolution from sport to style .
founded by Adi Dassler in germany in 1924 as “ gebrüder Dassler schuhfabrik ”, the company later rebranded as Adidas in 1949 . The brand created the first track shoe with a complete leather sole and handforged spikes , which was worn by Jessie owens at the 1936 Berlin olympics .
nike was created by Bill Bowerman and Phil knight in 1964 as Blue ribbon sports and became nike inc . in 1971 . This coincided with the running craze that hit America . nike ’ s first commercial design was the Cortez , cushioned for running . The Cortez was worn by tom Hanks in forrest gump , securing nike ’ s cultural status .
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