_
______________/(_____________
\\ | //
| | ########### |
_ ___ ___ _ ___ _ ___ ######### |
__) |_____ _____| (___) |_____ __) |_____ ### |
| _____/___\ | | | /__ _| /__ # |
//___| !| ! |____\\__ | ! |___\|! |
|
+--------------|_______\\_____|--------|_______\\//________\\--+
| _ ___ | _ ___ . ___ _ ____: ·
| __) |_____pOimp_)_/_______| (___) _/____
| ·
THUGLIFE.ORG
·
| _| /_____\ | __| _| /__
| //___| ! | !\___\\ !|__\\_| ! |
+----------------------------|_______\\____\--|_______\\----|_______\\--+
| serving the underground . . #### . |
| ascii scene - ascii search - | | ########### | |
| news - reviews - interviews - | impure hq | ########### | |
| ascii forums - 169 +/- groups - | woezine hq | ########### | |
| tutorials - ascii@thuglife.org | retro hq | ########### | |
+----------------------------------| | ########### |--------+
w w w . t h u g l i f e . o r g //_____________|_____________\\2O/O5/O4
\(
tribe / impure
presents a small colly made entirely in one evening called:
sneaker pimps
Atleast according to urban myths, the Beastie Boys have employed
people to buy vintage shoes from various places to them. They call
these people "sneaker pimps", which obviously is also where I got
the name to this colly.
I have drawn only eight logos to this colly, but each logo is the
name of an important sneaker company and I've also tried to say
the most important facts about the companies. So please enjoy this
fusion of art and athletic shoe history.
If anyone has any use for any of my logos in this colly, feel free
to use them.
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| -----------------------------------[ logo #1 - adidas ]--'
|
| Let's start with the most important sneaker brand of all time.
| In 1920 a man called Adi Dassler built his first pair of shoes in
| his mother's laundry room in the village of Herzogenaurach, Germany.
| After WWII he got a hold of surplus materials from the disbanded
| German army and decided to change the history of modern sports.
|
| Their most important shoe by far is the Superstar, which was
| originally introduced in 1969 and was made truly a piece of sneaker
| history in the 1980's by Run-DMC. As an interesting fact in 1973
| New York State authorities began distributing the sneakers to
| mental institute inmates as standard footwear.
_____ ______ ______ _____ ___
______\___ \ _______/ /___ _______/ /___\___ \ / /__________
\ _| \/ __/ / \/ __/ _| \\__ /
\ \| \ |/ / |/ /\ \| \_/ /
t01 \_____________________/__________________/ \____________________/
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| -------------------------------------[ logo #2 - puma ]--'
|
| Another important company in the history of sneakers is Puma.
| It was started by none other than Adi Dasslers brother Rudi who
| left Adidas after years of dispute to start Puma in 1948.
|
| Legends of sports that wore Puma sneakers include footballer Pele,
| tennis player Boris Becker and runner Linford Christie.
|
| Right now Puma is the official sponsor of the Jamaican olympic team.
|
|
______
_ ______________________ ___________ ____________\___ \ t01
___ /---- | __ \ | \ \/ / _| \
__\\ // PUMA | |/ /\ \| \| \
/ / | ________/ \____________/_____\/ /\____________\
|____| /________\
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| -------------------------------------[ logo #3 - nike ]--'
|
| Nike (pronounced NI-KEY), a brand that I have personally never been
| very fond of but that many people seem to love, was launched in
| 1971 after a brief spell of trading under the name Blue Ribbon Sports.
|
| The "swoosh" logo was designed by Caroline Davidson in 1971. She got
| paid $35 for the logo that is now surely worth billions and is
| practically a symbol of North American culture, even to those who are
| against everything that stands for.
|
| Their most important sneaker is definately the Air Jordan. Introduced
| in 1985 it began the most lucrative sports-endorsement contract ever,
| eventually worth upwards of $25-million a year for the then-NBA Rookie
| of the year Michael Jordan.
|
______ _____
________________________ / / / \
\ __ / | |/ / / /\_ \ \
\ \/ _ _ \/ /__/ / ___\\ ______// n i k e
t01 \___\ /_____/|___|\ ____/ \
/______/ \______\____\
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| ------------------------------------[ logo #4 - karhu ]--'
|
| Being Finnish there's no way I could not mention the legendary
| Finnish sports brand Karhu. Originally established in 1916 with
| the name Ab SportArtiklar Oy. They changed the name to Karhu in
| the 1920's and in the 1930's expanded from training equipment to
| sportswear, including athletic footwear, as well.
|
| Due to technical expertise, and partly because of the 1952 Helsinki
| Olympics, Karhu became one of the leading sports equipment producers
| and earned it's international reputation as the leading manufacturer
| of athletic shoes. Oh and by the way somewhere around the 1950's
| Karhu sold it's three stripes trademark to a certain company called
| Adidas for the price of two bottles of whiskey and about 1600 euros.
|
| Even though, or perhaps because of, being immensly popular among finns
| during previous decades. Karhu shoes are right now considered
| unfashionable in Finland. But hopefully that will soon change with
| their new Karhu Originals Collection, a line of vintage sneakers.
______ ____________________ _______ ______
_____ / /_\___ \ __ _ \________\ \ | | t01
| |/ / _| \ \/ // _ \ \| |
| _ \| ___\ \\ \\ ___________|
|___|\ \_________\ \____\\___\\ \
\______\ \________\ karhu!
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| ---------------------------------[ logo #5 - converse ]--'
|
| What is the oldest, most popular, and all time best selling sneaker
| of all time? Nope it isn't the Adidas Superstar nor is it the Nike
| Air Jordan. It's the Converse All Star "Chuck Taylor".
|
| The company was founded in 1908 and the introduced the All Star shoe
| in 1917, which originally only came in black. In 1923 basketball
| legend Charles Taylor started endorsing the shoes and his name "Chuck
| Taylor" was added to the ankle patch of the shoe.
|
| By 2003 580,000,000 pairs of the sneakers had been sold and every week
| approximately 30,00 pairs of the shoes are sold. And unlike some
| classic sneakers like the Adidas Superstars, the Converse All Star has
| remained exactly the same ever since 1923, except for the addition of
| new colors.
|
_____
_____ /
____ // c o n v e r s e _____ _____
/ __/ ____________________ _____/ \_____________ t01 / \
/ | _____/ __ __ \ / / /\_ \ __ /_______/ /\_ \
/_ |/ |/ \ \/ \/ /__/ \/ /\__ /__/ /
/_________/________/\__\ /\_______/\ ____/___\ \ _/ /\ ____/
/_____/ \____\ \____\\_____/ \____\
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| -------------------------------------[ logo #6 - fila ]--'
|
| Italian sportswear maker Fila entered the world of sport in 1973,
| initially making knitwear for Tennis. A real turning point in their
| history came 10 years later though when they started making shoes
| and sandals in 1983.
|
| Especially the U.S. market showed growing interest in Fila shoes,
| which reached a peak in the years 1992-96 with sales of basketball
| shoes. Publicity was guaranteed by connections with big NBA stars
| such as Kevin Johnson, Masburn, Webber, Stackhouse and Grant Hill.
|
| Non-basketball sports stars that wear Fila shoes include Jennifer
| Capriati (tennis) and Sammy Sosa (baseball).
|
_____________ ____ ______
t01 | ___ /___ \ \ ____\___ \ ____ _ __ _
| |_(___ \/ / \ _| \ __\
| _/ / /___\ \| \ / f i l a
|____| /_____/ / __________\
\_________/
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| -------------------------------------[ logo #7 - vans ]--'
|
| Although there are several claims to how the sport of skateboarding
| came about, the best documented was the Zephyr Team in Dogtown, USA,
| in the mid-1970's in California. (Learn more about them in the movie
| Dogtown and Z-Boys). The outfit that the Zephyr team wore was cotton
| Ts, Levi jeans and dark blue Vans Shoes, making Vans the original
| skateboard shoe brand.
|
| The Vans company also promotes its "Made in America" policy in
| response to the public outrage towards other shoe manufacturer's use
| of sweat-shop labour.
|
______ ____
_______ ________\___ \_______________/ /__________
\ \/ / _| \ __ / /
t01 \ / \| \/ /\__ vans! /
\__________/____________\___\ / __/ /
/_______/ \_________/
___ _____
.---- \|___||_|/ -------------------------------------[ sneaker pimps ]--.
`-.--- _|/|| -----------------------------------[ logo #8 - reebok ]--'
|
| Reebok's United Kingdom-based ancestor company was founded in 1890,
| and made some of the first known running shoes with spikes in them.
|
| In 1958 two of the founder's grandsons started a company that became
| known as Reebok, named for an African gazelle.
|
| Their most important shoe are the Reebok Pumps which came very well
| known in 1991 after Celtics rookie Dee Brown bent down to squeeze
| some air into his Pumps at the NBA Slam Dunk contest before winning
| with his "no-look" dunk. The shoes were pretty damn expensive costing
| $175 a pair at the time though.
|
_____ _____ _____ ______
_____________/ \ / \| |______________________ / /
\ __ / /\_ \/ /\_ | __ \ __ | |/ / _____
\ \/ /__/ /__/ _ |/ \| _ \ //
t01\___\ \ ____/\ ____/|__________/\_________|___|\ \ / reebok!
\____\____\ \____\ \______\
Sources (Hopefully I have remembered to include all of them):
The History of the Converse All Star "Chuck Taylor"
http://www.chucksconnection.com/history.html
Sneaker timeline by Michael Citrome
http://www.montrealmirror.com/ARCHIVES/2002/041102/coverstory2shoe.html
Hip-hoppers steppin' out with old 'kicks' by Meredith S. Davis
http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/music/dec02/103057.asp?format=print
Karhu history
http://www.karhuoriginals.com/history.htm
Nike History and Timeline
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/am483_97/projects/hincker/nikhist.html
JD Sports: Nike
http://www.jdsports.co.uk/brands.asp?id1=3&id2=1438
A History Of Shoes: Puma Shoes
http://www.historyofshoes.biz/puma_shoes.htm
The Athlete's Foot: Fila history
http://www.taf.pl/athletesen/asortyment/fila-hist.html
Sk8's Shoes
http://podiatry.curtin.edu.au/trasher.html
Sneaker History
http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/adams/arch350/fall1999/students/jmckim/history.htm
Reebok - Company History
http://www.reebok.com/us/about/history/1890.htm