Converse was born when Massachusetts rubber manufacturer, Marquis Mills, decided to start an independent rubber shoe company in 1908. Ten years later, basketball legend, Chuck Taylor, lent his name to the iconic high-top sneaker that would become the go-to uniform for both the NBA and the emerging subculture of rock and roll. Converse sneakers have since become true American classics whose clean lines stand up to almost limitless reinterpretation.