Established by Marquis M. Converse in 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts, Converse is famous for the shoe designed in 1923 by former basketball player Chuck Taylor, the Converse All Star, which were supposed to help the spread of basketball, which wasn't very popular at the time in the U.S. From the beginning of his business, Marquis M. Converse always thought of his brand as an independent one, far from other companies paths, and inspired only by the greatness, by the independence, and by the authenticity of its ideas. We don't surely know how Chuck Taylor got into Converse, but the shoes he designed are the best selling sneakers still today. Along with the Converse Jack Purcell, the All Star were among the first models of sneakers that entered the world of fashion. Too many times we forget how important the Jack Purcell has been in the world of badminton, when Jack Purcell, wearing that Converse, won five Canadian championships and a World one. Initially, the Converse Rubber Shoe Company wouldn't produce only rubber soled shoes, as a matter of fact, Converse had a diversified production of rubber products, which also included car and truck tires. Over the years, the company knew moments of up and down until 1928, when Marquis Converse left the company. During the war, the company provided the US army with shoes, boots, and footwear, and the production got specialized and intensified until the end of the conflict. The decade over 1960, featured by deep changes throughout the society and American and International cultures, saw a new rise of Converse, along with the spread of basketball and Rock & Roll. In this period, after years of a monochromatic production, for the first time the company begun producing colored sneakers, making a huge step forward toward the position now gained in the world of sneakers. During 2003 Converse was purchased by Nike.