The iconic Chuck Taylor has been around since the beginning, the first sneaker to be endorsed by a pro athlete and a sneaker that all the kids would wear. Basketball players chose the Chuck Taylor as their shoe of choice and young boys would emulate them. In the beginning the Chuck Taylor was predominantly worn by males, with the competing sneaker of the time; Pro Keds being deemed the female version.
Since then the Chuck Taylor has disappeared then come back and in an entirely new way. The sneaker has made a come back and it has changed as well. The design may still be the same but the people who wear it have changed. Going from basketball players to rock stars the Chuck Taylor has become an entirely new sneaker. With new ad campaigns promoting it as the sneaker worn by famous rockers like Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day, it opens up the sneakers to a much wider audience and doesn’t perpetuate the stereotypes about women.
The silhouette of the sneaker itself is also gender neutral, it is not overly chunky and the amount of materials used is minimal, while this sneaker does come in all the typical colours expected of female sneaker it isn’t separating the spheres. If you walk into a Chuck Taylor store there isn’t a mens or women’s section, instead there is a large range of sneakers to choose from that come in an array of colours and patterns.
Similarly Vans have also created a range of sneakers that cater to both genders without insulting women with stereotypes. Based on deck shoes used for boats the first Vans were designed to withstand the damage endured with the first wave of skateboarding. Much like Converse in the early years Vans were worn mostly by young boys and men, mainly because those are the people who surfed then later went on to skateboard.
With the revival of vulcanized sneakers Vans made a comeback in the skate and general sneaker community. The classic slip-ons and authentic’s were revived and have become extremely popular within sneaker culture. Their range of classics appeal to both genders and come in such a large range of colours and patterns that a variety of personalities can be pleased as well as both men and women. Much like Converse they also don’t created gendered sections in their stores, both men and women are welcome to all the sneakers Vans have to offer.
Adidas on the other hand started out making sneakers that were aimed at athletes rather than a specific gender. The early sneakers produced by Adidas were designed for track and field sports, sports that were not dominated by men, this influenced the designs they produced. Sneakers like the Gazelle and Superstar were relatively gender neutral, the silhouettes were simple and made to serve an athletic purpose, colours were often blues or whites and it was never specified which gender these shoes were aimed at.
Over the years Adidas has had periods in which they struggled to keep up to brands like Nike and Reebok, they have conformed to the idea that pink and pastel is what the ladies want, and they have separated male from female in their designs and marketing.
The Adidas originals line of sneakers does however still exist and it still remains true to where the brand began. It has kept many of the original designs and have expanded upon them. Adidas are able to compete with other juggernauts in the sneaker industry such as Nike and Puma, they do make the stereotypical women’s sneakers that perpetuate the standards of femininity that have been created by western society, but they also continue to release the sneakers that don’t follow gender lines.
These three brands present the potential that exists within sneaker culture to remove the gender boundaries that have been put up. The fact that Vans and Converse have been able to create sneakers that are equally popular with both genders suggests that there really doesn’t need to be a separation between men and women.
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