Trainers have also enjoyed celebrity status in their own right. Run DMC, Michael Jordan and Kanye West collabs have all contributed to their visibility while delivering financial dividends: Michael Jordan creator of the first €100 sneaker, still earns a $100m in royalties annually from his relationship with Nike, while Kanye West signed a $10m contract with Adidas to create his Yeezy sneakers and sportswear ranges. Celebrity collaborations across sports, cinema and music have shaped the status of the sneaker and elevated them from merely functional to extremely fashionable. Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump wearing the Nike Cortez sneakers he made iconicįrom origins for specific athletic activities, the sneaker category has now evolved with designer trainers becoming objects of desire. Nike’s first commercial design was the Cortez, specifically cushioned for running and famously worn by Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, a product placement which secured Nike’s cultural status and promoted its signature swoosh logo. Nike was created by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports and became Nike Inc in 1971, as the running craze swept America. It created the first track shoe, which was worn by Jessie Owens, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Founded by Adi Dassler in Germany in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik, the company rebranded as Adidas in 1949. It was Adidas and Nike however that drove the sneaker’s evolution from sport to style. (worn by Chuck Taylor from 1917) were the first models to get celebrity endorsement. Dunlop’s Green Flash model of 1929 (worn by tennis star Fred Perry at Wimbledon) and the Converse All Star of 1908 The growing popularity of recreational sports in the latter 19th century created a market for the new shoes. The earliest sports shoes were manufactured by the Liverpool Rubber Company (owned by John Boyd Dunlop) in the 1830s with canvas uppers bonded to rubber soles. In the world of rare sneakers, dedicated “sneakerheads” are increasingly willing to spend on such cult designs. A man was wearing them on Grafton Street right outside Weirs. I remember the first time I ever saw a pair, about 4 or 5 years ago. Designer Barbara Bennett who customises trainers with her unique hand-painted designs, recalls the impact of that Balenciaga shoe: “My favourite pair of trainers would have to be the Balenciaga Triple S. Since Balenciaga launched their famous Triple S sneaker (aka the ugly dad sneaker) in 2017, the fashion sneaker has become a distinct sector for fashion brands and a highly lucrative one. The sports shoe is fashion’s most profitable category. Footwear is now the biggest selling category in the online luxury market which is why traditional luxury brands including Fendi, Gucci, Prada and Valentino are all schilling designer trainers for stratospheric prices.
![chuck taylor all star move chuck taylor all star move](https://cdna.lystit.com/photos/flightclub/430d9abe/converse-Tan-Wmns-Chuck-Taylor-All-Star-High-Move-farro.jpeg)
Trainers are an immense business – sales of the footwear were valued at $79bn by in 2021 and are predicted to rise to $120bn by 2026. Sneakers have now assumed a status in popular and youth culture that totally overshadows their humble origins. Today they are worn by sportspeople, style queens, royalty, rock stars and fashion designers, young and old, rich and poor. Even Debretts, the snooty arbiter of modern manners has decided that trainers are now acceptable for smart casual occasions. The crossover of the casual sport shoe from track to catwalk was accelerated by the pandemic, but the ascent of the sneaker to cultural symbol of our times was well underway pre Covid. In the past two decades, New Balance, Nike, Off White, Yeezy, Adidas, Asics, Puma, Converse and Reebok have evolved to become mega-brands that dominate fashion and drive the athleisure boom.