A lot of you submitted this as news. Say what you will about punks being fashion obsessed, but this move seems to have ruffled a lot of feathers. In short: "Converse, whose Chuck Taylor All-Stars were donned by punk gods The Ramones, have fallen on hard times. ESPN is reporting that shoe mogul Nike is purportedly paying over 300 million dollars to purchase the entire Converse line of sneakers."
Our friends at Infopunks wrote an article about the whole situation and were kind enough to let us publish it here. Click below to check it out.
Converse, whose Chuck Taylor All-Stars were donned by punk gods The Ramones, have fallen on hard times. ESPN is reporting that shoe mogul Nike is purportedly paying over 300 million dollars to purchase the entire Converse line of sneakers.
To many in the punk scene this will constitute a true a conflict of ethic. Nike is known as the world's largest corporations that uses entirely foreign labor. Not only do they refuse to make a single shoe in America, but they use sweat-shop style child labor in countries like Thailand and Vietnam. It is not at all uncommon for women and children to be beaten for not meeting quotas. They work for hours and hours with no breaks for pennies a day. Doesn't really sound very punk rock to support that, does it?
Worn by nearly every punk band since The Ramones, the Chuck Taylor All-Star has become a staple of the punk community. Even Ben Weasel (Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales) included "Chucks" (as they've become known to fans of the sneaker) in his Punk Rock Dress Code, saying "As far as sneakers go, there is one and only one acceptable brand and that is Chuck Taylor Converse All-Star hi-tops."
Whether you personally care about the way Nike handles their business or not, you have to accept the fact that it is becoming harder and harder to be conscientious about who you are paying when you buy any product. Nike tried for years to break into the skateboard market, and could not. So they bought their way in with Hurley.
So, could this mean the end of a tradition for punks nationwide? Has the All-Star been replaced by the All-Swoosh? I don't think that it has to be that way. All you have to do is go to the thrift store, and hope you get lucky. There's nothing wrong with buying an old pair of Chucks and giving money to your local Salvation Army. You're not supporting sweatshop labor, and you're giving back the community. But as far as Hurley goes, I'm afraid you're just going to have to try something new.
Related links:
ESPN: Nike To Buy Converse Meet Chuck Taylor The Official Nike Press Release The Boycott Nike Homepage The Ultimate Chuck Taylor All-Stars Page