What Labels Have Been Put On Sneakers By Human Society?

Since 2013, a sneaker exhibition called Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture has been touring from Toronto.

Last year, the exhibition traveled to the Auckland Museum in California and the Broolyn Museum in New York.

By simply combing the history of sneakers, the exhibition also shows the changes in the culture of sneakers, but the focus of the discussion is not on what the shoes look like, but rather about the "identity" of the shoes.

In other words, it is talking about what labels the sneakers have been labeled in the human society.

This is not an easy view.

Because sneakers are selling hot pants with yoga pants and sports underwear all over the world, and have yet to come to a conclusion.

For example, in order to keep pace with the times, two pairs of New Balance sneakers are on display at the exhibition.

Since the November 2016 election in the United States, the American shoe company has begun to publicly support Donald Trump.

Then, in a hurry, the New Balance sneakers were thrown into the trash can and burned to the Twitter.

"The cultural meaning of sneakers will change with the changes in the relationship between producers and consumers."

The exhibition's curator, Elizabeth Semmelhack, said.

She also explained that the choice of New Balance shoes at this exhibition depends on the response of visitors (to what New Balance did in November).

This is the criterion for selecting materials for exhibition.

In the past 200 years, tennis shoes were related to class, nationalism, American identity, civil rights movement, masculinity, fitness culture, youth culture and personal heroism.

In 1839, when Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber, rubber shoes were born.

In the mid nineteenth Century of 70, some rubber soles were applied to the gate ball. At that time, these shoes were called "daps", "sandshoes" and "gutties". The most authoritative name was "Plimsoll", not the current "Sneaker".

What does "Plimsoll" mean?

Because the edge of the rubber sole at that time also had a similar line. If the water did not pass the line, the shoes would be wet.

From this simple metaphor, the social identity of the new gadget is not complicated. It is only the modern product used by the wealthy when they are playing sports.

In 1916, U.S. Rubber Rubber Company of the United States began to produce Plimsoll, and established Keds brand for this purpose.

Because of this

Walking quietly

Henry Nelson McKinney used the word "Sneaker" to do marketing for it.

Since then, "Sneaker" has become the name of sports shoes.

By 1920s, industrial production could make sports shoes large scale production, and shoes that had been galloping on tennis courts had successfully entered the field of basketball.

Founded in 1908, The Converse Rubber Shoe Company found the famous basketball player, Chuck Taylor, signing the contract, invited her to participate in the design and improvement of basketball shoes, and launched All-Star series canvas shoes in 1921.

At the same time, on the eve of the first World War, the world was in a fragile peace, and all countries were interested in sports culture, which promoted the sport to the height of nationalism and eugenics.

The State encourages people to take part in sports, not to improve their physique, but to prepare for the next World War.

In Germany, Japan and Italy at that time, large-scale movement became a trend.

"Ironically,

In the shadow of fascism, it became the most democratic form. "

Elizabeth Semmelhack said.

Then came the famous eleventh Summer Olympic Games hosted by the Germans in 1936 years.

At that time, Adolf Hitler, the head of Nazi Germany, hoped to prove the strong German power to the world through the games.

He and other top German officials have high expectations for German athletes in the competition.

At the same time, the Nazi propaganda department also strongly advocated "the superiority of Aryan race" and described the black people as inferior people.

As a result, the African American athletics Jesse Owens won the Olympic gold medal of men's 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4x100 meter relay 4.

Hitler was very angry and said with great shame, "the people who come out of the rainforest are very primitive. Their bodies are stronger than the civilized whites, so they should be excluded from future competitions."

And Jesse Owens wore Dassler sneakers at the time. (you may not have heard about this company, and then the two brothers separated from family businesses became Puma and Adidas).

Like him, this pair of shoes has won the applause of 110 thousand spectators at the Berlin Olympic Stadium and has become a symbol of "resistance".

For more information, please pay attention to the world clothing shoes and hats and Internet cafes.