p14 :: Apparel & footwear The shoes are the stars

The history of basketball is full of iconic stars that have carved their names in the books. Made famous by the likes of Michael Jordan and Chuck Taylor, these shoes still have many glossy-eyed fans around the world — some after quite a few years have al- ready passed, reports CARIN HARDISTY

hoes named after players have then there are also just the fashion followers ures! written themselves into history. who have to have them as they are now fash- So if it’s not the players who are buying bas- Mention Chucks, Jordans, etc. ion styles,” says Scott Pringle, Puma SA’s sales ketball shoes, it must be consumers who wear and people know you are talking manager for lifestyle. them for their looks. Where does this idea of about the shoe and even what wearing sportshoes for fashion come from? brand designed them. S“These [player] names create the aspira- Everyone wanted the latest Where it all started tional element and talking points that are as- pair as they represented Originally basketball shoes were not the fash- sociated with endorsements,” says Shannon the pinnacle of basketball ionable foot accessories of today, but they Bouwer, PR and Communications Manager for shoes were some of the earliest sport shoes. Reebok. In 1908, less than 20 years after the inven- Some of these shoe models are as popu- tion of basketball, Converse introduced the lar today as they were when they were first While basketball barely features as a sport first rubber-soled canvas uppers sneaker worn launched, with brands relaunching the models in SA (see box p14), GfK Marketing Services for basketball. They launched their All Star, in new colours and styles following South Africa reports that basketball shoes the first performance shoe specifically - de their initial success. As a result, have the sixth biggest market share in terms signed for basketball, in 1917. The following these shoes have become of retail sales — behind leisure/fashion, run- year Charles Hollis ‘Chuck’ Taylor, who was collectors’ items among ning, outdoor, football and multisport still a high school basketball player, bought his their devout fans. footwear — with about 100 000 first pair of All Star shoes. “There are people who pairs sold last year. Taylor loved the shoes so much that he joined aspire to being like the Not bad for a sport cat- Converse’s sales team in 1921 as America’s stars that play the sport and egory that does not have first player endorser and spent the following want to dress like them and very strong participation fig- two years promoting All Stars to basketball en- Nike Air Jodan

Sports Trader :: 2010 August/September Apparel & footwear :: p15

Frazier asked Puma whether they had a wid- he decided to stay with the brand. er fitting version of their suede shoe and he The late 80s saw Reebok entering the bas- ended up signing with Puma as an endorsed ketball scene. Soon the market saw a heated athlete. Soon Frazier’s name was imprinted on jostling between Nike and Reebok for the mar- the shoe in gold block embossing. ket share leader position. Reebok reacted to Frazier was given the nickname Clyde be- the success of Nike’s Air by releasing The Pump cause of his snappy dressing style, similar to with its innovative technology, which allows the style adopted by the legendary bankrob- air to be pumped into the shoe by ‘pumping’ bers Bonnie and Clyde, as well as his ability to a certain part of the shoe. The air-war contin- steal the ball on the court. ued with Nike in turn launching their The Air “Walt played with a mixture of bravado, Pressure shoe, but this failed to make much athleticism, intensity and a calculated lack of of an impact. emotion that encapsulated the very essence However, Nike’s Air Jordans still dominated of being cool. Indeed, playing it cool as a cu- the scene. Between 1990 and 93, all you saw cumber became his trademark. And, as the or heard from were Air Jordans. street hustlers, hip-hoppers, wee pappa rap- “Everyone wanted the latest pair as they pers, breakers, b-boys and graff kids picked represented the pinnacle of basketball shoes. up on the shoe, Clyde’s personal style seemed From the black shoe hysteria of the '89 Bulls to effortlessly rub off on an entire city.” (The Playoff run; to the clear soles and reflective legend of Clyde! Sneaker Freaker. Issue 7) tongue V's; to Mars Blackman's DoYouKnowDoY- 1983 saw the launch of Nike’s Air Force One ouKnowDoYouKnow and It's Gota Be Da Shoes; — the first of their air soled basketball shoes. to Bugs Bunny; the sneaker scene was all about Scottie Pippen This air technology propelled Nike to become the Air Jordan. The mystique behind the leg- the industry leader. The classic design of the end and the icon not only conquered market thusiasts across the US. While he was working shoe makes it a popular choice and remains a share but also went global after the Barcelona for Converse, he contributed to the shoe’s suc- best-seller till today. games.” (Kicksology — Timeline of Basketball cess by suggesting certain changes: to make The following year, Michael Jordan burst Shoes: Basketball Shoes History. See www. the sole non-slip and changing the fabric of onto the basketball scene in his own signature kicksguide.com/guides/kicksology.asp) the shoe to be more flexible, yet at the same warm-ups, Nike Air Jordan. With their bold In 1993 Charles Barkley’s signature shoes — time providing better support. He also sug- black and red colours they immediately stood the Nike Charles Barkley range — surpassed gested including a patch to protect the ankle. out on the court leading the NBA to ban the the Air Jordans in terms of price, technology, By 1923 Converse decided to add Taylor’s shoes, because they were ‘too colourful’ and design, functionality and popularity. October signature to the ankle patch. The Converse did not conform to his team colours. Jordan of the same year Jordan announced what Chuck Taylor All Star (aka Chucks) were born. was fined up to $5 000 each time he wore turned out to be the first of his retirements, Chucks offered a canvas, high topped upper them. Nike exploited this publicity and add- first citing a loss of desire to play the game that was designed to protect and support ed a big ‘X’ together with the word ‘banned’ then saying the murder of his farther earlier players’ ankles as they jumped and ran on the across the shoes on advertisements. the year shaped his decision. Some speculate court as well as a gripping rubber sole. During the middle 80s adidas and Patrick Ew- that the real reason Jordan retired was that To start with, the All Stars were only avail- ing got together to release the adidas Ewing his shoe was no longer the best seller or the able in black. As the popularity of the shoe Rivalry, however Ewing later went on the pro- most sought after footwear product. grew, just about every basketball team in the duce his own range, The EWINGS. In 1994, Fila and Grant Hill signed. The re- US started playing in the shoes. However, the In 1988, rumours started to fly that Jordan sult was The Hill, one of Fila’s fastest selling brand was put under increased pressure from wanted to part ways with Nike. Nike reacted ranges. It is during this same year that Nike the teams to add more colours to the range. immediately by designing the Air Jordan III, released the first two Jordans to be retro’ed. Basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936. impressing Jordan so much with the shoe that Teaming with Nike, Anfernee To p16 This same year the US basketball team won gold wearing Chucks. In 1947 Converse re- leased a white version of their Chucks for the following year’s Olympics. Nineteen years lat- er, in 1966, Converse started releasing Chucks NBA gets foothold in SA in different coloured styles. THE NBA (National Basketball Association) Fall, who worked for the Dallas Mavericks During its 40 year reign as #1 court footwear opened their first office in Africa in Johan- as director of player personnel and Vice choice, Chucks graced the feet of many a bas- nesburg, at the end of May this year. Their President for International Affairs, has iden- ketball star — including Pete Maravich, Julius aim: to develop basketball in Africa. tified many of the 25 African players playing Erving, and Magic Johnson, as well as Wilt Their biggest challenges, however, are fa- in the NBA. He has travelled to Africa as fa- Chamberlain who set the NBA scoring record cilitating the building of indoor courts, pro- cilitator with the NBA and FIBA’s global elite in 1962 in Chucks. viding coaches and conducting clinics. That basketball development programme and has It was only in the 70s, when basketball is, if the existing federations don’t create worked for the Senegalese (where Fall comes sneakers started featuring leather, that the further problems (see Basketball SA in trou- from) Ministry of Youth and Sports as well as rubber-soled canvas Chucks started to see a ble on p13). the Senegalese Basketball Federation. decline in popularity. For the past eight years the NBA has been “This game could bring about some very The early 70’s saw Puma and Nike entering sending Amadou Gallo Fall, who opened the important social transformations,” Fall told the basketball sneaker market. Nike entered office in Johannesburg, to SA as part of their The New York Times (NBA Enters World with their leather Blazer in 1972 and Puma NBA Basketball Without Borders programme. Cup Territory. 27 May 2010. W. Rhoden). with a shoe that is now known as the Puma The other half of the two-person office is “It’s just inevitable that as interest grows Clyde. Originally it was launched as a suede Kornelia Semmelink, who was born in Cape and leagues grow, you will get elite talent. shoe, but it was made famous by Walt ‘Clyde’ Town and played basketball for the Univer- People will succeed and they will not forget Frazier who wore it to play basketball in. The sity of Cape Town. where they came from.” style is still popular among consumers today.

2010 August/September :: Sports Trader p16 :: Apparel & footwear

led to the creation of the Audi TT inspired The The shoes are the stars from p15 Kobe. The same year Nike released the Air Zoom Flight The Glove, named after Gary Payton aka Deon "Penny" Hardaway’s signature line of Lit- The Glove. tle Penny sneakers launched in 1995. Foam- Having returned to basketball in 1996, Jor- posite One — the beginning of a new type of dan retired for the second time four years shoe that bordered on Sci-Fi — was the peak of later in January 1999. At the same time there the Little Penny line’s popularity. was a shake up with several names retiring There was such interest around the dates from the game. This caused a decline in in- when new styles hit the stores that in the late terest in the NBA and consumers started look- 90s, Nike changed the release date of new ing back at the good old days instead of being Air Jordan models to Saturdays, because kids interested in the new styles launched by the were skipping school in order to be among the brands, with retro styles ruling the roost. first to own the sneakers. Shoes had become In 1999, Nike remade the Air Jordan IV — and collectors’ items. launched the retro craze that caused a land- 1997 saw the release of the Nike Air Pippen, slide of classic style remakes. The Air Jordan a collaboration between Nike and Scottie Pip- line alone re-released ten styles (I-III V-VIII, IX, pen. The Air Pippen was not the first Nike that and XI-XII). Pippen was associated with, but it was the Round about this time, Avia and British first to be named after him. In 1993 Pippen Knights started to make basketball shoes again had worked with Nike on the Dynamic Flight. as well. The Nike Air Alonzo (named after Alonzo Adidas released the first laceless basket- Mourning) and Nike Air Garnett (Kevin Gar- ball shoe, the T-Mac, in 2004. The T-Mac was nett’s signature shoe) were also released in named after the endorser, Tracy McGrady who 1997. is known as T-Mac. McGrady is a seven-time In 1998 adidas signed Kobe Bryant and re- All-Star and a seven-time All-NBA Team mem- leased the Kobe ‘Feet Your Wear’ shoe, which ber. In 2009 Lebron James released his seventh version of Nikes — the Air Max Lebron VII. September this year saw the launch of the return of the Puma Suede, part of the Clyde Basketball SA in trouble family. What happens today Today, basketball shoes are mostly made BASKETBALL SOUTH AFRICA (BSA) was could not channel interests, give of leather, rather than can- founded in 1953, but a Professional Bas- directions, balance stakehold- vas, and have soles that ketball League (PBL), that was modelled ers, control its finances and are specially cushioned to on the Australian NBL, consisting of 8 do anything which would help give maximum support, teams was only launched in 1992. basketball grow.” (FIBA report bounce and style. BSA was a shareholder/partner in the on Basketball in South Africa. However, the same franchise-owned PBL with PBL making Prepared by Zoran Radovic (FIBA high-topped style of financial contributions towards the pro- development director) in Geneva, the early basketball motion and development of basketball. 27 April 2010) shoes is still popular Despite being a partner, BSA wanted to According to the FIBA report there among most basketball create its own league and power strug- are “plenty of players [that] are going to shoe styles seen today. gles began between them and PBL, with the universities in the US and unofficial While basketball stars the parties ending at the High Court of information indicates that there are cur- wear leather shoes, those SA. As result, PBL only operated untill rently 32 South African players who play who wear them for fash- the 2006/2007 season. in schools in USA (officially there are only Puma relaunched ion’s sake wear canvas. In 2008 during a Special General Meet- 2 players in NCAA Division I, Chris Gabriel the Puma Suede in September. “Consumers buy basket- ing, the serving BSA Executive Commit- and Andrew Goba).” ball footwear as it is as- tee was dissolved with an Interim Com- The report goes on to say that research sociated with the hip hop culture and with mittee taking over the BSA operations. done by the governmental sports agen- it comes the baggy jeans, oversized T-shirts, Later the same year a new BSA President cies indicate that basketball is the sport bling accessories and basketball footwear,” and Board was elected and took over op- of choice for children and should be a says Bouwer. erations. sport for the female population. “There is definitely a person that likes that Currently funding from National Lot- SA has 25 universities that are members high top look as a fashion shoe and would tery and SASCO to BSA is at a standstill. of the University Federation: Western search for that style and then buy into the The Department of Sports and Recrea- Cape (4 universities), Eastern Cape (4 brand or the style that he/she likes,” says tion ordered an audit on BSA financial op- universities); Gauteng (6 universities); Pringle. “High tops is a style that is fashion- erations and until the audit is approved, Free State, Limpopo and North West (6 able at the moment and therefore the styles no funding can be made available. universities in total); and KwaZulu Na- have had more focus from a fashion perspec- “It is clear that basketball was used tal (5 universities). Currently there is no tive than before.” by a number of individuals for their own university league, and FIBA feels that if Look out for the Reebok ZigTech Slash, says private interest and that BSA for years there was more organisation more uni- Bouwer. “Reebok’s newest athlete, NBA #1 was not able to govern anything. It did versities would be part of the University Draft Pick John Wall, wears it.” not have the right people in place and Federation.

Sports Trader :: 2010 August/September