The shoes were not particularly popular until basketball player Chuck Taylor adopted them as his preferred shoe. He was impressed with the design so he became the shoe's leading salesman.
After proposing a few changes to the shoe, the shoe got its current name and Chuck Taylor's signature on its ankle All Stars patch. One change was the switch to nonslip soles. Although classic black is the most popular, Chuck Taylor was himself known to prefer unbleached white high-tops (known in his day as simply "white").
In the 1950s the shoes became popular within the greaser subculture and amongst many fans of rockabilly.
Consumers demanded more variety from the shoe – particularly with respect to colors in order to match basketball teams – so colored and patterned shoelaces became popular to complement the two colors, blacks and whites, available before 1966. Afterwards, more colors and styles became available. Low-top or "Oxford", high-top, and later knee-high, versions were produced. More materials were offered for the construction, including leather, suede, vinyl, denim, and hemp. Some versions of the shoe were offered without laces, held up instead by elastic. These new versions of the shoe were also co-designed by Chuck Taylor, just before his death in 1969.
A full biography of Chuck Taylor was published by Indiana University Press in March 2006 under the title Chuck Taylor, All Star: The True Story of the Man Behind the Most Famous Athletic Shoe in History, with a foreword by the retired college basketball coach Dean Smith.
Fans of punk rock have adopted the shoe as a fashion trend since the late 1970s and many popular punk rock bands, such as the Ramones, have supported the trend by wearing the sneakers.
All-Stars became popular again in the '90s to fans of the world as famous grunge-punk band Nirvana emulated the band's frontman Kurt Cobain, who had worn All-Stars for many years prior to the 90's due to the influence of different punk rock bands he enjoyed in his youth. Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello was (and still is) also known for commonly wearing Chucks, and U2 guitarist The Edge has been seen wearing All-Stars onstage in recent years. Jackass star Johnny Knoxville is also known for his signature black hi-top All-Stars.
When Converse was bought by Nike in 2003 and operations were moved from the United States to overseas, the design saw a few alterations. The fabric for a short time was no longer 2-ply cotton canvas but 1-ply "textile" and many wearers noticed different patterns of wear. Because of these complaints the shoe was once again produced with the twin layer canvas design starting sometime in the past 5 years. This change caused about a $5 increase in the shoe across the brand from about $40 to $45 respectively.
Today the shoes are very popularly worn by children, teenagers, and young adults of both sexes. The shoes are available in several core colors, seasonal colors, and a variety of print styles. Some of the most popular colors are black, royal blue, carolina (light) blue, pink, gray, purple, blue plaid, red, and navy blueChuck Taylors saw of the same rock-oriented youth cultures that have kept an affinity for the shoes since (at least) the late '70s/early '80s punk and new wave eras.
In 2004, a wildly successful collaboration with designer John Varvatos gave rise to reinterpreted version of the classic Chuck Taylor All Star and Jack Purcell sneakers, including the creation of the John Varvatos Laceless Chuck Taylor.
The recent increases in numbers of colors also may have led to the market for Chuck Taylors growing, due to various owner or factory-based customizations of the shoe through color, use of stylized shoelaces, and through drawing or writing on the rubberized parts. The customization of Chuck Taylors is highly popular with the rock scene, especially with teenage girls. Many draw or write on the shoes, use mismatched laces or wear odd shoes (often two differently colored Chuck Taylors.) These practices are fairly common among wearers over the past three decades. The trend of wearing the low-rise shoes (in white) and writing on the rubberized part can be traced back to as early as 1972, peaking with junior high school girls between 1973 and 1975. Due to the texture and unique designs, Converse are favored globally.
In modern times, Chuck Taylors are worn as a casual fashion shoe, and are less often used for sports because of the development of better sports shoes by brands such as Reebok, Nike, and Adidas.
