Chuck 2: Converse announces first All-Star redesign in 100 years

Cry your eyes out, punks. Converse has revamped its classic Chuck Taylor All Star high-top shoe to be the least grungy thing ever: comfortable.

The 107-year-old shoe company has seen very healthy sales in the last year, and this is due in no small part to the enduring popularity of the All Star. According to Fast Company, All Star sales made up a majority of Converse’s $1.7 billion in revenue in 2014. Not bad for a shoe that has been virtually unchanged since 1949.

So if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Not if you’re Converse. Nike bought the brand after it went bankrupt in 2003, so the new design includes some frou-frou innovations aimed at making the sneaker more comfortable: Lunarlon sockliner (huh?), a padded non-slip tongue (alrighty!), micro-suede lining (sure!), and premium canvas (hmm…).

The sneakerheads at Complex, Sneakernews.com and Hypebeast have reviewed the shoe favorably, which might speak to the Nike-fication of sneakers in general. All Stars date back to an era when arch support was practically unheard of. That changes with the shoe’s sequel, which remains true to the spirit of the iconic design. “The apple may not have fallen far from the tree, but the core is definitely leaps and bounds better than Converse’s first fruit,” Jian Deleon wrote for Complex.

Despite the changes to the inside of the shoe, then, it remains the All Star shoe people know and love on the outside — which accounts for the overall positive sentiment. The core complaint about Chucks has always been that they’re uncomfortable, not that they look unfashionable. Topsy records a little over 15,000 Tweets about Converse in the last 24 hours, with a majority positive sentiment over the last 24 hours:

People shared their feelings on Twitter, and indeed it proved difficult to find too many horrified purists:

Some even think the design is better than the predecessor:

Then there’s this guy!

There are a few out there mourning the loss…

But they needn’t worry: Fans of the old school kicks will still be able to buy the original, unlined Chucks for $60 a pop — and laugh at the preppies paying $75 for their Nike-fied shoes — come Tuesday, July 28.

https://digiday.com/?p=127727

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