Just about everyone is familiar with the Nike Air Jordan shoe, but just when did the practice of attaching an athlete’s name to a shoe become common practice? This text takes you from the beginning of the signature shoe industry, and through the 1980s when the popularity of signature shoes accelerated. At the start of the ‘90s, just about every footwear company was producing a signature shoe, and looking for the next charismatic spokesperson, when they saw the dollars Nike was making with the Jordans. Eventually, signature shoes entered all facets of popular culture and were taken for granted by the public. Before long, it wasn’t just the most well-known and marketable athletes getting their own shoe. Athletes in Major League Baseball, the Women’s National Basketball Association, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Formula One, the Professional Golfers’ Association, the National Football League, musicians, and even the National Hockey League had their own footwear to go along with the mainstays of the NBA and professional tennis circuits.

Many iconic shoes, such as the adidas Stan Smith, Nike Air Jordan and Puma Suede are worn by millions as everyday footwear, but were originally born to bring victory on court, track and field. Golden Kicks reveals the stories behind some of the greatest shoes in sporting history, the roles they played in sport's most significant moments, and how they have made the transition from classic sportswear to mainstream streetwear. Discover the amazing stories behind the shoes, the people who made them, and the athletes who wore them.

Provides an evolutionary perspective on the origin of products. Offers a method to give designers directions in New Product Development.

The story of the sneaker's rise from the first Victorian tennis shoes to the Nike Air Max and beyond Moving from the athletic field to the shopping mall, Thomas Turner tells a fresh story of the evolution of the sports shoe against the changing landscape of society, sport, fashion, industry, and technology. The Sports Shoe takes us on a journey from the first Victorian tennis shoes to the adidas Superstar and the innovative technologies of Nike Air Max. Featuring newly uncovered archival material and historic images showcasing key personalities, vintage marketing and common perceptions of this hugely desirable product, this book is a must-have for any sneaker collector, historian of popular culture, or anyone interested in the place of athletic footwear in our lives today.

Join Jim Hawkins and his pesky little sister, Jennifer, as they journey in a land where the names Helaman, Teancum, and Captain Moroni are more than just words on a page. A world where danger and suspense are a way of life.

Now in its fifth edition, this comprehensive and highly illustrated edition of Sneakers spans over 300 shoes, while also giving advice on shoe care and maintenance.

Come take a closer look at ordinary footwear, like sneakers, or children's toys and Saturday cartoon TV shows, or make a comparison between Don Quixote and John Rambo of the Sylvester Stallone movie. Although some regard popular culture as "shallow," this book reveals that it is more often complex, deep, meaningful and subject to the style changes we associate with high art. Bergesen shows how complex philosophical ideas of reincarnation are embedded in Transformer toys; how sneakers have gone through a life cycle of style types; why the decline of empires like Spain and the United States led to fictional characters like Don Quixote and Rambo; and why monsters from Japan look different than those from the United States.