Converse’s Limited Shoe Series Honors Basketball’s Barrier-Breaking History

Converse was making basketball shoes before it was cool, with their Chuck Taylor All-Stars dominating the market for 50 years beginning in the 1920s. So it makes sense that the sportswear brand is releasing a new limited collection honoring the history of the sport it helped popularize.

The new Converse collection keys in on moments in basketball history that involved the breaking of barriers. Kicking things off is the peach-colored Southern Flame collection, which pays tribute to Dr. James Naismith’s 1891 invention of the sport using peach baskets. Next is the Breaking Down Barriers collection, which honors the first all-black basketball team to win the Indiana state championship in 1955. The Then & Now collection track’s Converse’s own history in the sport, with models honoring its 1971 exit from basketball and its 2019 re-entry. The Birth of Flight model remembers Dr. J’s free-throw line dunk during the ABA’s final all-star game in 1976 before it merged with the NBA. And the final collection celebrates the NBA’s lifting of shoe color restrictions in 2018 with a lineup of seriously flamboyant footwear. The Southern Flame and Birth of Flight collections are both available now from Converse, with prices starting at $85.

Purchase: $85+