An icon of American style, Marquis Mills Converse founded the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts. In 1917 the company designed the forerunner of the modern All Star shoe that it marketed under the name of "Non-Skids."
In 1923 the company brought in basketball player Charles H. "Chuck" Taylor, who walked in and complained of sore feet. Converse hired him as an ambassador to promote the shoes across the US.
Today, owned by Nike, Converse sells more than 270,000 pairs of Chuck Taylors a day, according to data.
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