Sneakers

We always say that Barbie has been a reflection of what has been happening in society, but if there is another thing that speaks directly to us about people in history, it's fashion and, of course, the sneakers have had a very important role since the 20th century. The Industrial Revolution made a middle class flourish in the Victorian era that at the end of the 19th century already had its moments of leisure, going to the beach and practicing sports, moments for which suitable footwear began to be used. Canvas, rubber... the companies began to innovate and perfection to unite these two materials and as a result a comfortable and silent footwear emerged that was called "sneakers" for their zero noise when walking and for providing stealth to the wearer. Some of these companies from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries sound familiar to us all, for example, JW Foster and Sons (later Reebok) or Spalding, creator of the first basketball shoes in 1907, a time wheb professional sports began to become popular and that required more and more professional footwear with specific needs for each sport. After the First World War, elite athletes began to influence young people who lined up to buy sneakers just like those of their heroes, such as Chuck Taylor's Converse, and that sports elite grew, adding disciplines and becoming popular. increasingly with sporting events like the Olympic Games. This led to the appearance of firms such as "Adi" Dassler's one, better known as Adidas. In the 50s after the Second World War, wearing sports shoes began to be seeing well in children's clothing and from then on the rules of the game changed... marketing burst in with force, new materials emerged thanks to advances that had been made in research during the war and the rise of the sport in the following decades caught on among the population, men and women, who now sought to be in shape and a healthier way of life, for example with tennis in the 60s, jogging in the 70s or aerobics in the 80s, among others and... if at the end of the 80s we loved having a pair of sneakers on our feet regardless of whether we did sports or not, in the 90s it was "almost mandatory"! The brands took advantage of the sneaker craze and athletes like Michael Jordan starred in marketing campaigns of companies like Nike creating an immense hype (desire) but sports shoes also incurred in the world of music where they could get more creative, either with Will Smith and his rap with Gwen Stefani or with the Spice Girls and many others... Barbie wore them too and, of course, the sneakers invaded the catwalks and eventually the account of influencers, the queues on the street and the shelves of collectors.