History of Sports Shoes

Welcome to a History of Sports Shoes!
Why a history of sports shoes not a history of Kicks the reason being is they go by many different name in this world kicks is just a US name for them in the UK it is Trainers so we will call them sports shoes .
History of Sports Shoes we all wear them we all know the big name we dont all now the smaller ones that make as good quality. how did them big names start whats happened to them over the years.
What links Adidas and Puma Both German companies it's a lot more than that.
Why did Jordan fall out with Nike.
Is Jordan part of Nike even? the truth may surprise you.
Who owns Converse?



Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer, part of the Adidas Group, which is the second largest sportswear manufacturer worldwide. The company was named after its founder, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, who started producing shoes in the 1920s in Herzogenaurach near Nuremberg with the help of his brother Rudolf Dassler who later formed rival shoe company PUMA AG. It registered as Adidas AG on 18 August 1949 (with lower-case lettering: "adidas"). The company's clothing and shoe designs typically include three parallel stripes of the same color, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's official logos. The company revenue for 2005 was listed at 6.6 billion euros, or about 8.4 billion U.S. dollars.
Adidas perfumery and personal care products are manufactured by Coty, Inc. under license worldwide.
Corporate history
The Tapie affairThe history of the company as presented by its official web site is incomplete, perhaps because it is indirectly linked to financial scandals.After a period of serious trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1990 by Bernard Tapie, for 1.6 billion French francs (now €243.918 million), which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing bankrupt companies, a business on which he built his fortune.Tapie decided to move production offshore to Asia. He also hired Madonna for promotion.A pair of Adidas trainers In 1992, Tapie was unable to pay the interest from his loan. He mandated the Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed into equity of the enterprise, which was unusual for then-current French banking practice. Apparently, the state-owned bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie, reportedly because Tapie was a minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de la Ville) in the French government at the time.In February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie (and cousin of Julia Louis-Dreyfus from the Seinfeld TV series), for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€434.479 million). Tapie later sued the bank, because he felt spoiled by the indirect sale.Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He is also the president of the Olympique de Marseille football team, a team Tapie owned until 1993. Tapie filed for personal bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several lawsuits, notably related to match fixing at the football club. He spent 6 months in La Santé prison in Paris in 1997 after being sentenced to 18.In 2005, French courts awarded Tapie a €135 million compensation (about 886 million francs).Post-Tapie eraFrom left to right: The classic trefoil, modern performance and sport style (fashion) logos used by Adidas. In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group, and its corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG. With this acquisition adidas acquired Taylormade Golf company and Maxfli which allowed them to compete with Nike Golf.In 1998, Adidas sued the NCAA over their rules limiting the size and number of commercial logos on team uniforms and apparel. Adidas withdrew the suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark. [1]In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in British court challenging Fitness World Trading's use of a two-stripe motif similar to Adidas's three stripes. The court ruled that despite the simplicity of the mark, Fitness World's use was infringing because the public could establish a link between that use and Adidas's mark. [2]In September 2004, top English fashion designer Stella McCartney launched a joint-venture line with Adidas, establishing a long-term partnership with the corporation. This line is a sports performance collection for women called "Adidas by Stella McCartney" [3], and it has been critically acclaimed. [4]In 2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1, the first ever production shoe to utilize a microprocessor. Dubbed by the company "The World's First Intelligent Shoe" it features a microprocessor capable of performing 5 million calculations per second that automatically adjusts the shoe's level of cushioning to suit its environment. The shoe requires a small, user replaceable battery that lasts for approximately 100 hours of running. It currently retails for $250 (USD).Also in 2005, on May 3, Adidas told the public that they sold their partner company Salomon Group for €485 mn to Amer Sports of Finland.In August 2005, Adidas declared its intention to buy Anglo-American rival Reebok for $ 3.8 billion (US). This takeover was completed in August 2005 and meant that the company will have business sales closer to those of Nike in North America. The acquisition of Reebok will also allow Adidas to compete with Nike worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world. [5]On November 25, 2005 Adidas released a new version of the Adidas 1. The higher intelligence level 1.1 makes the Adidas 1 better, stronger and faster. There is an increased range of cushioning, meaning the shoe can become even softer or firmer and a new motor with 153 percent more torque.On April 11, 2006, Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become the official NBA apparel provider. They will make NBA, NBDL, and WNBA jerseys and products as well as team-colored versions of the "Superstar" basketball shoe. This deal (worth over $400 million) takes the place of the previous 10-year Reebok deal that was put in place in 2001. When Reebok was acquired by Adidas, the NBA was allowed to find a new apparel provider, which would turn out to be Adidas.CriticismIn April 2006, Adidas came under fire from Asian American groups for releasing a limited edition Y1-HUF shoe that contained a typical early 1900s Asian caricature. Adidas responded by labeling the criticisms as a misinterpretation, and declined to pull the line of shoes. The artist, Barry McGee, is half Chinese and had drawn the caricature intending it as a younger self portrait. McGee thought it would be cool to have a picture of himself on a shoe.