These are the Chuck 70 Canvas hightops, a design update to the iconic Chuck Taylor All-Stars from Converse. The Chuck 70 has a softer more modern sole than its famous forebear, but it keeps the original looks intact.
The Chuck Taylor All-Stars were the first celebrity-endorsed athletic shoe, debuting in 1922 with a series of design cues created by Charles “Chuck” Taylor, a well-known semi-professional basketball player that was working for Converse as a salesman.
These are the Chuck 70 Canvas hightops, a carefully designed update to the iconic Chuck Taylor All-Stars from Converse.
History Speedrun: The Chuck Taylor All-Stars
The Chuck Taylor All Star started out as a straightforward performance basketball shoe, then somewhat unexpectedly, it became one of the longest-running designs in American footwear and the longest-running athletic shoe design of all time.
Converse was founded back in 1908 by Marquis Mills Converse in Malden, Massachusetts, initially as a simple rubber shoe company. In 1917, the brand introduced an early basketball shoe with a hightop canvas upper and a rubber sole marketed as the “Non-Skids,” this shoe was a direct ancestor of the All Star line.
In the early 1920s when Charles “Chuck” Taylor, then a semi-professional player, joined Converse as a salesman and product promoter. Taylor pushed practical changes aimed at players including better flexibility, more support, and the now-signature ankle patch with the star mark that also doubled as ankle protection.
Not long after this, Converse added Taylor’s signature to that ankle patch, turning that had been simply a functional detail into an endorsement and effectively creating what’s now described as the first celebrity-endorsed athletic shoe.
They can’t have known it at the time, but Converse and Chuck Taylor had just started what would become a multi-billion dollar global industry covering sports as diverse as golf, to basketball, to soccer, to Australian Rules Football.
The Chuck Taylor All-Stars were the first celebrity-endorsed athletic shoe, debuting in 1922 with a series of design cues created by Charles “Chuck” Taylor, a well-known semi-professional basketball player that was working for Converse as a salesman. Image courtesy of Converse.
Taylor toured widely too promote the shoes, running basketball clinics in schools, colleges, and YMCAs to teach fundamentals and build the then-new sport and the Converse brand at the same time. His basketball shoe design was a lot better than anything else on the market at the time, and many players felt they were safer also.
By the 1960s, All Stars were effectively the default basketball sneaker in the United States, with market share in the 70 to 80% range, and some accounts putting Converse adoption even higher. Numbers that athletic shoe companies today can only daydream about.
Converse’s dominance began to fade in the 1970s as players moved to newer, more specialized shoes from up-and-coming competitors, but the All Star didn’t disappear, it just changed jobs in a manner of speaking. Chuck Taylors were slowly adopted as casual footwear, pulled into skate, punk, and art scenes, and later, right into mainstream fashion.
Converse became a subsidiary of Nike in 2003, and the modern era has mostly been about small updates around the core silhouette of the shoe rather than any sort of ill-fated-New-Coke-style reinvention. The company now offers premium throwback variants like the Chuck 70, and more comfort-focused modernizations like the Chuck II and other performance-influenced spinoffs.
Through all that the basic formula of the Chuck Taylor, a canvas upper, a vulcanized rubber sole, a toe cap, and that distinctive ankle patch, have all remained as keystone style touch points.
The Chuck 70 Canvas
When the Chuck 70 Canvas made its debut it immediately began winning over the more traditional Chuck Taylor All-Star faithful. It kept the original silhouette in place, but added a new OrthoLite cushioned insole to bring genuine softness and more modern levels of comfort.
When the Chuck 70 Canvas made its debut it immediately began winning over the more traditional Chuck Taylor All-Star faithful. It kept the original silhouette in place, but added a new OrthoLite cushioned insole to bring genuine softness and more modern levels of comfort.
The shoes were developed with a heavyweight, durable canvas upper, a varnished, off-white midsole and toe cap, and thicker laces than the traditional Chuck Taylor All Star. They also keep the signature leather Chuck Taylor ankle patch and classic All Star license plate.
The Chuck 70 Canvas is available to buy on the official Converse store here in both standard and wide versions, with sizes ranging from 3 to 13 US. The MSRP is $95 USD, and there are 11 colors to choose from.
Images courtesy of Converse
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