As a Converse employee, Taylor helped redesign the shoes and also became an advocate for basketball in America. He was a player and coach for the Converse All-Stars, the company’s industrial league basketball team, and created something called the Converse Basketball Yearbook, in which the sport’s best players, trainers, teams and greatest moments were commemorated. He also conducted basketball clinics all over the country. The competitiveness in him is still there, though. Apart from his music career, Timmy also competes in esports tournaments representing his alma mater.

In addition to selling Converse All Star shoes and conducting basketball clinics, Taylor contributed to the development of the sport in other ways. In 1935 he invented a "stitchless" basketball that was easier to control. [4] Taylor also promoted basketball internationally. When basketball became an Olympic sport in 1936, he designed a white high-top model with blue and red trim for the 1936 Olympic Games. [ citation needed] The Converse All Star shoe remained the official shoe of the Olympics team from 1936 to 1968. [1] World War II military service [ edit ] Charles Hollis Taylor was born on July 24, 1901, and raised in southern Indiana. Basketball—the brand-new sport invented by James Naismith in 1891—was beginning to take the Hoosier State by storm. Taylor joined his high school team, the Columbus High School Bull Dogs, and was named captain. In addition to his myriad other job duties, Taylor played for and managed the All-Stars, a traveling team sponsored by Converse to promote their new All Star shoes, and launched and helped publish the Converse Basketball Yearbook, which covered the game of basketball on an annual basis. In 1950 Taylor moved to Los Angeles, California. He also continued to travel to military bases and in 1957 made a trip to South America on behalf of the U.S. State Department. [21] In 1958 he was inducted into the Sporting Goods Hall of Fame. [22] Later years [ edit ]

All Star: Timmy Albert 

As the United States entered the Second World War in 1941, the vast majority of Converse’s production became focused on supporting the war effort. Only a small quantity of All Stars were available to the public during WWII. Made with ‘wartime construction techniques’ that used minimally rationed materials, they did not last long under the stress of basketball. Because of this, Converse has yet to find a single example from this period for their official archive. a b Margo DeMello (2009). Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: Macmillan. pp.80–82. ISBN 9780313357152. Yes, it’s been exactly a century since Malden, Massachusetts-based Converse Rubber Shoe Co. hired semi-pro basketball player Charles Hollis Taylor to help sell their shoes. And that he did. As a salesman-slash-design consultant of sorts, Taylor gave invaluable input, particularly with flexibility and support, to improve the primitive Converse Non-Skids. The result was a basketball shoe that took hard courts the world over by storm, eponymous to the man who would one day become a household name and inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In the 1800s, New England became the epicentre of America’s Industrial Revolution, largely thanks to the region’s abundance of swift streams that could power large factories. By the turn of the 20th century, the area had established itself as a hotbed for textiles manufacturing – giving birth to a number of footwear companies that still exist today. It was during that time that Marquis Mill Converse, a New Hampshire native, decided to leave his job managing a footwear company and start his own business. In 1908, he opened the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, and began production. I feel like they give me something to keep me going forward,” he says. “Its history and representation of the independents and the outspoken really make it my choice of sneaker.” I break barriers by believing in myself,” adds Albert. “I break barriers by using my platform to be vocal beyond my music and genre and being someone my younger fans can look up to."

Breaking barriers 

With its just launched ‘Breaking Barriers’ campaign, Converse hopes that the diverse team they have put together inspires Filipinos at a time when we all need it most.