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# Sneaker History

## Sitemaps
- [XML Sitemap](https://sneakerhistory.com/sitemap_index.xml): Includes all crawlable and indexable pages.

## Posts
- [“I Want Brazil” – Phil Knight – How Nike World Cup Boots Came To Be](https://sneakerhistory.com/i-want-brazil-phil-knight-how-nike-world-cup-boots-came-to-be/): The four years that turned a running and basketball company into a football one, and the boot that did the quiet work.
- [The Forgotten Language of Team Colorways](https://sneakerhistory.com/forgotten-language-of-team-colorways/): How the NBA's dress code opened the floodgates, and what a new players' union initiative might bring back.
- [The State of Sneakers: Spring/Summer 2026](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-state-of-sneakers-spring-summer-2026/): Why the most exciting brands in footwear can all be right and the industry can still only be average. My latest for The Sneaker Newsletter.
- [Small Luxuries: Sneakers](https://sneakerhistory.com/small-luxuries-sneakers/): My first book. A pocket-sized celebration of sneaker culture, from Air Jordans to Chuck Taylors. Out October 2026 from Motorbooks.
- [The Other Night Vince Carter Made History in the AND1 Tai Chi](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-other-night-vince-carter-made-history-in-the-and1-tai-chi/): February 27, 2000. Vince Carter went 13-for-13 from the line and put 51 on Phoenix in the AND1 Tai Chi, the first Raptor ever to reach 50 points.
- [When Golf (Sneakers) Caught Fire: 1990s vs. Now](https://sneakerhistory.com/when-golf-sneakers-caught-fire-1990s-vs-now/): I came across a photo of Michael Jordan cleaning his golf clubs while wearing the Air Jordan 9 “Olive” recently, while reminiscing about my very first pair of Air Jordans. Though it's not a photo I haven't seen before, it led me down a path I haven't been on for years, thinking about just how much the game has changed since Michael Jordan was all over our televisions, golfing in the early-to-mid 1990s.
- [The Nike MAG: The Complete History of the Back to the Future Shoe](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-mag-history/): From Tinker Hatfield's 1989 movie prop to the self-lacing pair Michael J. Fox got on Back to the Future Day, the full history of the Nike MAG.
- [30 Fun Facts About Space Jam (The Movie and the Shoes)](https://sneakerhistory.com/space-jam-facts/): Space Jam turns 30 on November 15, 2026. 30 facts about the movie, the Jordan Dome and the Space Jam 11, with the full video.
- [Jordan Space Jam Collection: Inside the Five Air Jordan 11s, From the People Who Built Them](https://sneakerhistory.com/jordan-space-jam-collection/): Jordan Brand is marking 30 years of Space Jam with five Air Jordan 11s, including an all-green Green Screen. The people who designed the collection walked me through every piece.
- [The Nike Sample That Might Be the Most Important Shoe in the Schumacher Story](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-michael-schumacher-f1-sample/): An eBay seller called Luciano's Arkive just listed a rare 1998 Nike Michael Schumacher F1 sample, a men's size 9 pair dated by its original factory tag to January 19, 1998, tied to the model designation "F-I SCHUM 3/4." Translation for anyone new to this corner of sneaker history: this is a Nike Formula 1 sample built for the Michael Schumacher program, developed during the two years Nike quietly outfitted the most dominant driver in the sport. I think this makes it one of the most important shoes in the entire Nike and Schumacher story, and by extension one of the more significant artifacts in Formula 1 and motorsports history. Most sneakerheads have never heard of it. Most F1 fans never will. That gap is exactly why it matters.
- [The Nike Air Bakin Story Is Not the One You Have Heard](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-bakin-1997-logo-controversy/): Everyone remembers the Air Bakin as the shoe with the logo Nike had to pull. The part that actually changed something has been left out of the telling for twenty-nine years.
- [Air Jordan 41: What Is Actually In It, From the People Who Built It](https://sneakerhistory.com/air-jordan-41/): Leo Chang, Donald Kelsey and Jason Mayden on the Air Jordan 41. Full specs, release details, the eight gemstone colorways, and why no kid asked for retro.
- [Arc’teryx Konseal Trek: The Climbing Boot That Speaks Sneaker](https://sneakerhistory.com/arcteryx-konseal-trek/): Arc'teryx sent its most expensive shoe to a sneaker guy on the California coast. Here is why that matters.
- [The adidas Adistar Jellyfish Is the Shoe That Doesn’t Photograph](https://sneakerhistory.com/adidas-adistar-jellyfish/): Pharrell's adidas Adistar Jellyfish in white looks plain on a phone. Up close, it is a different shoe.
- [Shohei Ohtani Cleats, Hideo Nomo and Baseball’s Sneaker Moment](https://sneakerhistory.com/shohei-ohtani-cleats-hideo-nomo/): Shohei Ohtani's Tokyo Series cleats set a record. The story starts with Hideo Nomo at Candlestick in 1995.
- [How the Air Jordan 3 True Blue Became The Pair I Couldn’t Forget](https://sneakerhistory.com/air-jordan-3-true-blue-history/): The story of the Air Jordan 3 True Blue, from Tinker Hatfield's 1988 design to the 2026 retro, and the worn pair I'll never let go.
- [The 23 Oldest Sneaker Brands, From 1817 to PUMA](https://sneakerhistory.com/oldest-sneaker-brands/): PUMA is one of the biggest sneaker brands in the world, and on this list it comes in dead last. That surprised me when I started putting together the oldest sneaker brands still making shoes today, because PUMA feels ancient, a brand that has been around for as long as anybody reading this has been alive. It has, but a lot of the names on shelves next to it started out as tanneries, rubber factories and knitting mills decades before anyone had a word for a sneaker, and the stories of how they got from there to here are some of my favorite parts of sneaker history.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Shox BB4](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-shox-bb4-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Shox BB4, the 2000 shoe that took 16 years to develop and about three seconds to become famous, thanks to Vince Carter in Sydney. These are the 15 Nike Shox BB4 facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Shox BB4](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-shox-bb4-complete-history/): Some shoes get famous because of a season. The Nike Shox BB4 got famous because of one second in Sydney. On September 25, 2000, Vince Carter stole a pass, took two dribbles, and jumped over a 7-foot-2 Frenchman, and the shoe on his feet became the most talked-about basketball sneaker in the world. The technology inside it had been in development for 16 years. It took one dunk to make it famous.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Flightposite](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-flightposite-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Flightposite, the 1999 zip-up shoe TIME called the worst design of the year and Kevin Garnett said made him feel like Batman. These are the 15 Nike Air Flightposite facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Flightposite](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-flightposite-complete-history/): Two years after the Foamposite One, Eric Avar took the same poured shell and asked a stranger question: where does the body end and the shoe begin? The answer was the Nike Air Flightposite, a 1999 basketball shoe with a zipper where the laces should be, a shell about two millimeters thick, and a look so far out that TIME magazine called it the worst design of the year. Kevin Garnett thought he looked like Batman in it. Both reactions tell you something about why it lasted.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Foamposite One](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-foamposite-one-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Foamposite One, the poured-plastic 1997 shoe that started as an experiment, found its player in a gym bag, and caused a riot 15 years later. These are the 15 Nike Air Foamposite One facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Foamposite One](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-foamposite-one-complete-history/): In 1997, Nike put a basketball shoe on shelves that looked like it had been poured instead of stitched, because it had been. The Nike Air Foamposite One had no panels, almost no branding, a carbon fiber plate, Zoom Air, and a $180 price tag. It debuted on a college team in the Final Four, got claimed by Penny Hardaway out of a designer's bag, and years later caused a riot at a Florida mall. Few shoes have had a stranger or longer life.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air More Uptempo](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-more-uptempo-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air More Uptempo, Wilson Smith's 1996 shoe with AIR written across the side in letters you can read from the nosebleeds. These are the 15 Nike Air More Uptempo facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air More Uptempo](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-more-uptempo-complete-history/): Most basketball shoes whisper their technology. The Nike Air More Uptempo spells it out in letters taller than your ankle. Designed by Wilson Smith and made famous by Scottie Pippen during the Bulls' 72-10 season, the 1996 shoe took Nike's biggest Air unit and wrapped it in the loudest branding a hoops shoe had ever worn. Thirty years later, Nike is still selling it, and people who never saw Pippen play are still wearing it.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Swoopes](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-swoopes-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Swoopes, the 1995 shoe that made Sheryl Swoopes the first women's basketball player with a signature shoe, and the story behind it is better than most people know. These are the 15 Nike Air Swoopes facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Swoopes](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-swoopes-complete-history/): Before 1995, a woman who wanted a real basketball shoe usually had to buy a men's shoe in a smaller size. Sheryl Swoopes changed that. The Nike Air Swoopes hit stores in October 1995, designed by a woman, built with a woman's input, and named after the best women's player in the country. It was the first signature basketball shoe made for a woman, and its story runs from a record-setting night in 1993 all the way to a 2025 All-Star Weekend reveal.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Max Penny 1](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-max-penny-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Max Penny, the 1995 shoe Eric Avar built for a point guard who didn't fit any of Nike's categories, and the puppet that ended up selling it. These are the 15 Nike Air Max Penny facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Max Penny 1](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-max-penny-complete-history/): Nike had a problem in 1995, and it was a good one to have. Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway was a 6-foot-7 point guard who could run an offense, post up smaller guards, and finish in transition, and none of Nike Basketball's existing categories fit him. So Eric Avar built a new one. The Nike Air Max Penny arrived before the 1995-96 season with two kinds of Air, a foam wing, a jeweled Swoosh, and a trash-talking puppet doing the selling. Thirty years later, it's still the shoe most people picture when they hear the name Penny.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Max2 CB](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-max2-cb-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Max2 CB, the 1994 shoe Nike designed to hold Charles Barkley back, which never really worked. These are the 15 Nike Air Max2 CB facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Max2 CB](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-max2-cb-complete-history/): Nike spent years putting Charles Barkley in shoes built for somebody like him. In 1994, it finally built one for him, and it designed the thing like a straitjacket. The Nike Air Max2 CB was supposed to hold a force of nature in place. What it actually did was carry Barkley through one of the most dramatic, most painful seasons of his career, and it has outlasted just about every other shoe from that era.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Flight Huarache](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-flight-huarache-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Flight Huarache, the stripped-down 1992 basketball shoe that five Michigan freshmen turned into a uniform. These are the 15 Nike Air Flight Huarache facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Flight Huarache](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-flight-huarache-complete-history/): Some shoes get famous because of the player who signs the contract. The Nike Air Flight Huarache got famous because of five freshmen who didn't have contracts at all. In 1992, Nike took a running idea built around a neoprene sock, stripped a basketball shoe down to almost nothing, and put it on Michigan's Fab Five just as they were about to change what college basketball looked like.
- [15 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Force 180 Low](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-force-180-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. This time it's the Nike Air Force 180 Low, the shoe Charles Barkley wore in Barcelona and into an MVP season, built off a running shoe most people never connect to it. These are the 15 Nike Air Force 180 facts worth knowing.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Force 180 Low](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-force-180-low-complete-history/): Charles Barkley never played basketball quietly, and the Nike Air Force 180 was never sold quietly either. The low-top Barkley wore in 1992 took a technology Nike had been selling to runners for a year and repackaged it for the most physical player in the league. It went with him to Barcelona and into the best season of his career, and it's still the first shoe on Nike's own list of the 20 basketball designs that changed the game.
- [20 Things You Didn’t Know About the Nike Air Raid](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-raid-facts/): Nick Engvall used to write these for Complex. These are 20 Nike Air Raid facts about a shoe you thought you knew everything about, the outdoor icon Tinker Hatfield built for blacktop and never intended for a hardwood floor.
- [The Complete History of the Nike Air Raid](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-raid-complete-history/): Every outdoor court in America in the early 90s had a shoe that lived there permanently, one pair that never saw a hardwood floor and never needed to. For a big chunk of the sneaker world, that shoe was the Nike Air Raid.
- [The $20,000 Nikes Dale Earnhardt Wore When He Climbed Out of an Ambulance and Finished the Race](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-20000-nikes-dale-earnhardt-wore-when-he-climbed-out-of-an-ambulance-and-finished-the-race/): Let me tell you a Dale Earnhardt story that explains everything you need to know about why his Daytona 500-worn Nike racing shoes might actually be worth $20,000.
- [The PUMA Speedcat: The Shoe That Outlived Its Driver](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-puma-speedcat-the-shoe-that-outlived-its-driver/): The Speedcat is the sneaker of the moment. It started as a fireproof boot built for Formula 1 drivers, one of whom never saw what it became.
- [Groundhog Day in Sneaker Form](https://sneakerhistory.com/groundhog-day-in-sneaker-form/): Every February 2nd, I'm reminded how many Bill Murray movies shaped my childhood. The obvious ones... Space Jam, Caddyshack. But also Groundhog Day, a 1993 comedy about a weatherman trapped in the same day over and over that somehow became this weird cultural touchstone about breaking cycles, self-improvement, and becoming better through repetition.
- [The Nike Mind – When Innovation Meets Incubation](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-nike-mind-when-innovation-meets-incubation/): How Nike's latest experiment, the Nike Mind 001 and 002, reveal everything about their approach to the future of footwear
- [The Nike Air Tailwind: The Shoe That Changed Everything](https://sneakerhistory.com/nike-air-tailwind-original-shoe-that-changed-everything/): The Nike Air Tailwind originally released in 1979, this is the story of how it changed Nike, and introduced the world to Nike Air.
- [The Sneaker History Podcast’s Best Sneakers of 2025](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-sneaker-history-podcasts-best-sneakers-of-2025/): The best sneakers of 2025 represented a convergence of storytelling, technology, and collaboration that defined the year in footwear. From signature basketball shoes making triumphant returns to tech-forward experiments pushing the boundaries of design, this year's standout releases proved that the narrative behind a shoe matters as much as the shoe itself. We asked the Sneaker History Podcast co-hosts to share their top 5 sneakers of the year, and the results showcase everything from heritage Jordan releases to emerging brand partnerships that flew under the radar.
- [When Kobe and the Lakers Brought Back Short Shorts (For One Half)](https://sneakerhistory.com/when-kobe-and-the-lakers-brought-back-short-shorts-for-one-half/): A look back at when’s Kobe Bryant and the Lakers busted out the short shorts.
- [PUMA’s Answer to Air Had a Honeycomb in It](https://sneakerhistory.com/pumas-answer-to-air-had-a-honeycomb-in-it/): Trinomic was PUMA’s swing in the cushioning wars. The R698 is the runner that made it look good.
- [Steph Curry Wore Kobes Without a Deal. A Tribute or a Disaster?](https://sneakerhistory.com/steph-curry-wore-kobes-without-a-deal-a-tribute-or-a-disaster/): Stephen Curry warmed up in the Nike Kobe 6 Mambacita with no Nike deal in place. What the choice says about his next move and his cultural standing.
- [The Year PUMA Tried to Kill the Shoelace](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-year-puma-tried-to-kill-the-shoelace/): In 1991 PUMA replaced laces with a dial you turned and clicked. Three decades before BOA was on everything, the Disc System was already there.
- [PUMA Built a Fitbit in 1986](https://sneakerhistory.com/puma-built-a-fitbit-in-1986/): The RS-Computer tracked your runs and plugged into a Commodore 64. It flopped. It was also right about thirty years early.
- [The Proper Way For Sneaker Collabs To Be Done In 2025](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-proper-way-for-sneaker-collabs-to-be-done-in-2025/): In this week's episode, Mike and Rohit are talking new releases, sneaker collaborations, and Kobes. From the Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 to the Fantastic Four release with PUMA and Advisory Board Crystals, there are some quality collabs happening this month. What really needs to be talked about, though, is the revival of soccer in the sneaker world.
- [Is Tiger Woods’ New Brand Working?](https://sneakerhistory.com/is-tiger-woods-new-brand-working/): For the latest episode of the Sneaker History Podcast, I connected with Charley Hudak. Charley is a longtime footwear industry professional who has worked at a number of brands doing design work and was tapped as the Head of Footwear for the launch of Tiger Woods' post-Nike brand, Sun Day Red.
- [The Suede Was Never Supposed to Matter](https://sneakerhistory.com/the-suede-was-never-supposed-to-matter/): PUMA built it as a warm-up shoe. A protest, a point guard, and a generation of B-boys made it the most important sneaker the brand ever made.

## Pages
- [Sneaker History Podcast Links](https://sneakerhistory.com/links/): Full episodes of the Sneaker History podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube, the latest episodes, and the Sneaker History newsletter.
- [Emerica](https://sneakerhistory.com/emerica/): Emerica history runs through a handful of skaters who never did anything halfway, from Andrew Reynolds and Heath Kirchart to Leo Romero, and a French skater who wanted skaters making skate shoes.
- [Pony](https://sneakerhistory.com/pony/): Pony history is a New York hustle story with a quiet partner, a 5'7" dunk champion, and fifty years of owners trying to figure out what to do with a chevron.
- [Sergio Tacchini](https://sneakerhistory.com/sergio-tacchini/): Sergio Tacchini history starts with an Italian tennis champion who wanted color on court, then runs through McEnroe, the British terraces, New York hip-hop and three changes of ownership.
- [British Knights](https://sneakerhistory.com/british-knights/): British Knights history runs from a Depression-era New York shoe wholesaler to Kool Moe Dee, MC Hammer and a gang legend the brand never asked for.
- [Diadora](https://sneakerhistory.com/diadora/): Diadora history starts with a man sewing mountain boots in a small Italian town, and runs through Borg's Wimbledon, Baggio's heartbreak and a family rescue.
- [Ryka](https://sneakerhistory.com/ryka/): Ryka history is the story of Sheri Poe, a founder who built a shoe company around women's feet, then watched it outlast the money problems that nearly sank it.
- [Spalding](https://sneakerhistory.com/spalding/): Spalding history on the court usually starts and ends with the ball, but the company was selling basketball shoes before Converse existed, and it has tried more than once since to get back on players' feet.
- [Crocs](https://sneakerhistory.com/crocs/): Crocs history is a story about three guys from Colorado, a foam clog from Canada, and a shoe that got laughed at for years before the joke turned into a business nobody could ignore.
- [Heelys](https://sneakerhistory.com/heelys/): Heelys history is a story about a burned-out psychologist, one wheel in a heel, a Wall Street rocket ride, and how fast a playground craze can roll away from the people who built it.
- [Kaepa](https://sneakerhistory.com/kaepa/): Kaepa history starts with a broken shoelace, a Catholic priest on a tennis court, and a patent nobody wanted, long before the brand found its home in cheer gyms.
- [Starter](https://sneakerhistory.com/starter/): Starter history is mostly a jacket story. But the footwear chapter, from Eastport NFL sneakers and Shaq shoes to Nike-built Walmart pairs, explains why the star logo belongs in a sneaker directory.
- [BAPE](https://sneakerhistory.com/bape/): BAPE history runs from a Harajuku shop to a federal courtroom in New York, and the Bapesta, a sneaker that never hid where it came from, sits right in the middle of it.
- [Starbury](https://sneakerhistory.com/starbury/): Starbury history starts with a kid from Coney Island who couldn't get the shoes he wanted, and a $14.98 sneaker he wore in the NBA to prove a point.
- [Ewing Athletics](https://sneakerhistory.com/ewing-athletics/): Every few years somebody announces that an athlete now owns their own sneaker brand, and it gets treated like something new. It is not. Patrick Ewing did it in 1989, while he was one of the biggest stars in New York, and Ewing Athletics history is the best case study we have for what happens when a player tries to be the brand instead of just wearing one. We have covered pieces of it here before, in The (tall)Tale of Ewing Athletics and in our interview with David Goldberg, the man who brought it back. This page pulls it together, and it corrects a few things along the way.
- [Merrell](https://sneakerhistory.com/merrell/): There are a lot of people walking around in Merrells who have no idea there was a real Merrell. His name is Randy Merrell, he was a custom bootmaker from Vernal, Utah, and he left the company that carries his name after about five years. Merrell history is partly the story of a hiking brand that grew into a giant inside Wolverine World Wide, and partly the story of a craftsman who walked away from all of that and went back to making things by hand. I find the second part a lot more interesting, and the brand's own website barely mentions him.
- [Mizuno](https://sneakerhistory.com/mizuno/): Back when I was running the Eastbay Blog, I reviewed the original Mizuno Wave Prophecy, a 200 dollar running shoe with a plastic plate that ran the full length of the sole, and it might be the most Mizuno shoe ever made. It was over-engineered, a little odd looking, and completely sure of itself. You can still read that review. Mizuno history is full of that kind of confidence, and it goes back a lot further than most sneaker fans realize, all the way to a shop in Osaka that sold baseballs before Japan had a professional league.
- [Autry](https://sneakerhistory.com/autry/): Autry history starts with a Dallas rubber company that sold running shoes in the 1970s, a tennis origin story that is hard to find in the record, and an Italian revival worth hundreds of millions.
- [Veja](https://sneakerhistory.com/veja/): For a lot of people, the first Veja they ever noticed was on the feet of the Duchess of Sussex. That is a fine way to meet the brand, but it skips almost everything that makes Veja history worth knowing. This is a company started by two guys who had never made a shoe, who decided early on that they would not spend money on advertising, and who publish a page on their own website listing what they still get wrong. That last part is unusual in any industry, and it is especially unusual in sneakers.
- [On](https://sneakerhistory.com/on-running/): Caspar Coppetti, one of the co-founders of On, came on the Sneaker History podcast to talk about the brand, and the more you dig into On, the less its story sounds like a sneaker story. It reads more like an engineering story that happened to end up on people's feet. On Running history starts with a garden hose and a pro triathlete who could not get the big brands to listen, and it has turned into one of the fastest growing companies in the business. Along the way, On's telling of its own origin has shifted a little, and that is worth looking at too.
- [Hoka](https://sneakerhistory.com/hoka/): The first time most people saw a pair of Hokas, they laughed. The midsole looked like somebody had stacked two running shoes on top of each other, and the nickname that followed the brand around for years was the clown shoe. The real Hoka history is a lot more interesting than the joke, because it is the story of two ski-industry lifers who were trying to solve one specific problem, running downhill, and ended up changing what an everyday running shoe looks like. It is also the story of one of the most lopsided deals in modern footwear, and the numbers behind it are not the ones you have probably seen on social media.
- [Way of Wade](https://sneakerhistory.com/way-of-wade/): Dwyane Wade left Jordan Brand for a Chinese company, took a title and equity instead of just a check, and turned a shoe deal into a brand with his family name on it.
- [Cole Haan](https://sneakerhistory.com/cole-haan/): The dress-shoe company Nike owned for 24 years, and a big part of why dress shoes started feeling like sneakers.
- [Avia](https://sneakerhistory.com/avia/): The Oregon brand with a patent it took Nike to court over, a Reebok price tag, and a second life on Walmart shelves.
- [LA Gear](https://sneakerhistory.com/la-gear/): The Los Angeles brand that got to number three behind Nike and Reebok, paid Michael Jackson less than anyone reported, and put lights in a generation of kids' shoes.
- [Onitsuka Tiger](https://sneakerhistory.com/onitsuka-tiger/): The Kobe brand that gave Phil Knight his start, disappeared inside ASICS for 25 years, and came back as the best business its parent owns.
- [Karhu](https://sneakerhistory.com/karhu/): The Finnish brand that sold its three stripes after the 1952 Olympics, and still will not say who bought them or for what.
- [Tell Us Your Story](https://sneakerhistory.com/people/): An interview series
- [Jordan Brand](https://sneakerhistory.com/jordan/): Jordan Brand is the only time in the history of the sporting goods business that an athlete's signature line grew large enough to be spun off into its own company. Not a sub-label, not a collection. A division of Nike with its own leadership, its own athletes, its own factories to fight over, and eventually its own place on the earnings call.
- [Nike Air Max 1](https://sneakerhistory.com/air-max-1/): The Nike Air Max 1 is the shoe that decided what sneakers would look like for the next forty years. Not because it ran better than what came before it, and not because it sold in numbers nobody had seen. Because Tinker Hatfield cut a window in the midsole and let you see the air, and once a customer could see the technology, no brand could ever go back to asking them to take it on faith.
- [Yao Ming](https://sneakerhistory.com/yao-ming/): Reebok, Nike, and the shoe deal that opened a market.
- [Dwyane Wade](https://sneakerhistory.com/dwyane-wade/): Converse, then Jordan, then a move nobody expected.
- [Kanye West](https://sneakerhistory.com/kanye-west/): Nike, then adidas, then the most disruptive footwear deal of the decade.
- [Vans](https://sneakerhistory.com/vans/): A waffle sole, a checkerboard, and sixty years of not needing to change.
- [Tinker Hatfield](https://sneakerhistory.com/tinker-hatfield/): The architect who drew the shoes everyone else copies.
- [Kevin Garnett](https://sneakerhistory.com/kevin-garnett/): From Nike to AND1 to adidas, and a signature run that moved.
- [Penny Hardaway](https://sneakerhistory.com/penny-hardaway/): Foamposite, Lil Penny, and a career the shoes outlasted.
- [Stephen Curry](https://sneakerhistory.com/stephen-curry/): The line that proved a second brand could win.
- [Allen Iverson Shoes: The Complete Guide](https://sneakerhistory.com/allen-iverson/): Fourteen Answers, three Questions, and a catalogue the league never got comfortable with.
- [LeBron James](https://sneakerhistory.com/lebron-james/): Twenty-plus signature shoes and no gap in between.
- [Kobe Bryant](https://sneakerhistory.com/kobe-bryant/): The signature line that changed what a basketball shoe could look like.
- [Charles Barkley](https://sneakerhistory.com/charles-barkley/): The Nike Air Force Max and a player who never fit a category.
- [Scottie Pippen](https://sneakerhistory.com/scottie-pippen/): The best supporting shoe line in basketball.
- [Grant Hill](https://sneakerhistory.com/grant-hill/): The Fila line that Tupac made permanent.
- [Tracy McGrady: Sneaker History Archive](https://sneakerhistory.com/tracy-mcgrady/): This is the Tracy McGrady hub on Sneaker History. Everything we have published about T-Mac, plus every McGrady pair sitting in the archive, feeds into this page.
- [Michael Jordan Shoes: The Complete Guide](https://sneakerhistory.com/michael-jordan/): Forty-one numbered models, one royalty deal, and a logo that outgrew the brand that owns it.
- [Kith](https://sneakerhistory.com/kith/): A shoe store that turned its owner’s taste into a brand.
- [Airwalk](https://sneakerhistory.com/airwalk/): It was skateboarding, then it was everywhere, and that was the problem.
- [Kappa](https://sneakerhistory.com/kappa/): Two people back to back, and a logo that outlived the kit deals.
- [K-Swiss](https://sneakerhistory.com/k-swiss/): Two Swiss brothers, one white leather tennis shoe, sixty years of not changing it.

## Captivate Podcasts
- [Kader Sylla Built a Skate Shoe for Twenty Stairs | Coffee Time Kicks](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/kader-sylla-built-a-skate-shoe-for-twenty-stairs-coffee-time-kicks/): What does it mean to have your own signature sneaker? For adidas Skateboarding pro Kader Sylla, it's a trip.
- [Why a Footwear Designer Started Making Knives](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/why-a-footwear-designer-started-making-knives/): Rick Maderis has spent more than twenty years inside adidas, Nike, Jordan Brand and Curry Brand, working on the graphics, color and storytelling that rarely get a name attached. Now he runs Burnside Knives in Portland, and you can see the sneaker brain in every piece.
- [The Air Jordan 41… “You Never Really Finish an Air Jordan, You Just Run Out of Time” – Jason Mayden](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/air-jordan-41-jason-mayden-interview/): Jason Mayden walked into Jordan Brand in 2001 as its first design intern. He designed the Air Jordan 2009 and the Jordan CP3.II, left in 2014 to build his own companies, and came back a decade later to run design for the entire brand. This past May he stepped out of that job into one that did not exist until he took it, VP of Jordan Visioneering and LA28 Creative Lead.
- [The Photographer Ronnie Fieg Gifted a 1-of-36 Air Max 95 | Chef Doomy](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/the-photographer-ronnie-fieg-gifted-a-1-of-36-air-max-95-chef-doomy/): Mike is flying solo for another Coffee Time Kicks episode, and he brought a good one. He sits down with photographer and content creator Adham Abousalem, better known as Chef Doomy, for an honest conversation about building a craft instead of chasing a following.
- [The Most Complete Michael Jordan Collection Is In The Last Place You’d Look](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/the-most-complete-michael-jordan-collection-is-in-the-last-place-youd-look/): Josh De Vaney lives in Perth, Western Australia, about as far from the center of sneaker and basketball culture as you can get, and he has quietly built one of the most complete collections of Michael Jordan toys and figurines on the planet. Not the shoes. The toys. The stuff most of us ripped open as kids and never thought about again.
- [Inside Saucony’s Collab Playbook with Jason Faustino, Sr. Director of Energy](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/jason-faustino-interview-saucony-sneaker-collabs/): Mike runs a solo Coffee Time Kicks episode and sits down with a friend of the show, Jason Faustino, Senior Director of Energy at Saucony. Fresh off the brand's Paris preview, Jason breaks down how Saucony builds its creative world: why knowing exactly who you are beats chasing anyone else, how collaborations really get vetted (it comes down to chemistry and gut), and how a small team stays two years out on product while making it look effortless.
- [From Dallas to the World: Jared Moody’s Sneaker Photography Journey](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/from-dallas-to-the-world-jared-moodys-sneaker-photography-journey/): Mike is back with another Coffee Time Kicks episode, and this one is for anybody who has ever looked at a sneaker photo and wondered how someone made a shoe feel alive.
- [The Whole Squad Is Back: World Cup, Skechers, and the State of Sneaker Culture](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/the-whole-squad-is-back-world-cup-skechers-and-the-state-of-sneaker-culture/): The whole crew is back. Nick, Robbie, Mike, and Rohit reunite for a full-panel episode of the Sneaker History Podcast, and it feels exactly like catching up with friends who happen to know more about shoes than most people you know.
- [The Untold Story of a Soccer Shoe Born From Hustle, Struggle, and Grassroots Roots](https://sneakerhistory.com/podcasts/the-untold-story-of-a-soccer-shoe-born-from-hustle-struggle-and-grassroots-roots/): Most sneaker fans haven’t seen a project this layered and meaningful — until now. When two creators linked up, they crafted a sneaker that tells a story of perseverance, culture, and global pride, right during the World Cup.