Collection 100 - 100 facts.

The first trainers were manufactured in the 1800's

Keds was the first company to make trainers

In 1908, Marquis .M. Converse created The Converse Shoe company for basketballers

In 1917, the Converse All Star shoe was created.

Adi Dassler created shoes, handmade in the bathroom of his mother's house.

Chuck Taylor All Star shoes are also known as "Chucks", "cons" and "connies"

Over 744 million pairs of All Stars have been sold in 144 countries

The founders of Adidas were Adi and Rudolf Dassler from Germany

Adidas was registered as a trainer company in 1924 with the help of 50 of the founder's family members.

Adidas' first mass produced trainer was created in 1931

Converse released a shoe called 'the Jack Purcell' which started off the 'bad boy' image for high top trainers

Rudolf Dassler created PUMA and was endorsed by the West German Football Club

In the 1950's teenagers around the world started wearing high top shoes as a form of rebellion

American students chose to wear the high tops because they were affordable

In 1962, an american Student, with the help of his coach created 'Blue Ribbon Sports' to make low-cost high-tech athletic shoes.

In 1962, 'Blue Ribbon Sports' changed their name to NIKE, after the greek goddess of victory

PUMA was the first shoe manufacturer to add velcro straps to the shoe design

The NIKE swoosh trademark logo was bought of a graphic design student for $35

The NIKE waffle-bottom was discovered when Bill Bowerman, the founder, poured melted rubber into his mother's waffle-iron.

4 of the top seven runners in the 1972 Olympic trials wore nike trainers

Converse started getting popular with American skaters in the late 70's

NIKE created the first air-pocketed soled shoes.

NIKE's most popular shoe was one of its first designs. The Air Force 1.

In 1985 Michael Jordan, a basket ball player for Chicago Bulls endorsed a pair of NIKE shoes… the Air Jordan.

NIKE founder Bill Bowerman died in 1999

In 2004, Reebok released a collaboration shoe with G-unit… sky rocketing high top trainers popularity.

In 2005, Adidas and Reebok joined forces to try and compete with NIKE

The NIKE 'dunk' was originally created for basket ball players, but since, in 1985 they were re-marketed in any colour possible, they have become iconic in fashion

'Dunks' were re-created in 1998 and sold to students with specialised university colours.

The NIKE SB dunk was the first shoe made specifically for skateboarders.

There are several lines of collectible NIKE dunk trainers.

2 of Run DMC's daughters created high top trainer company "pastry shoes" at the age of 16 and 18

Reebok created 'reebok freestyle' in 1982, designed for aerobic exercise.

The 'Freestyle' range by reebok were the first high-top trainers to be designed especially for women.

In 1984 the reebok freestyle accounted for more than half of all of reebok's sales.

In the 90's reebok freestyles became popular with women commuters for their journeys to work.

At the 1985 Emmy Awards, Cybill Shepherd walked down the red carpet in a black strapless dress and a pair of fluorescent orange Reebok Hi Tops.

The advertising slogan for the Reebok Freestyle was "sizzling hot neon'

The slang name for Freestyle shoes was '5411' because, with tax… that is how much they traditionally cost.

Hi-top trainers were highly fashionable in the late 80's

Converse All Star's are also available in leather, suede, vinyl, denim and hemp

A book was written about Chuck Taylor called 'Chuck Taylor, All Star: The true story of the man behind the most famous athletic shoe in history'

The Ramones introduced Converse to the punk rock scene in America by wearing them constantly.

Kurt Cobain and Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello commonly wore/wear converse all stars.

Converse was bought by NIKE in 2003.

Converse All Stars are made out of 2-ply cotton canvas

In 2004, Converse collaborated with a designer called John Varvatos and created laceless versions of their All star hi-top trainers.

NIKE initially worked as a distributor for japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger

The NIKE swoosh was designed by J.B Strasser.

Ilie Nastase was the first athlete to be sponsored by NIKE

In 1980 NIKE owned 50% of the market in American athletic shoe sales

'Advertising Age' declared NIKE's 'just do it' campaign as being one of the 5 best ad slogans

In 2008 NIKE bought Umbro, another producer of hi-top shoes.

Lunarlite foam is now being used in the production of hi-tops to make them lighter.

NIKE has earned 2 Emmy's for best adverts, both concerning hi-top shoes.

NIKE owned the rights to Beatles song "revolution" for a year for an advert

The price of Converse has risen since they were bought by NIKE.

Reebok was created in 1958.

Reebok's name came from the african name for 'gazelle'.

In 1981 Reebok sales in the USA of trainers exceeded $1.5 million.

In 1989, Reebok created a shoe designed for basket ballers to rival the NIKE air.

In 2004, Adidas and Reebok combined to take over 21% of the American trainer sales.

The 3 Stripe Adidas logo found on the side of the shoes was bought from the Finnish sports company Karhu Sports in the 1950s.

In 1989, a french man named Bernard Tapie bought Adidas for 1.6billion french francs.

NIKE re-introduced the dunk in 1998

NIKE dunks between 1998 and 2000 featured nylon tongues and arch support.

The NIKE SB dunk was created for skate boarders.

The first basketball shoe to use NIKE air technology was the Air Force 1

The Air Force 1 high-top has a removable velcro strap… different to the lo and middle tops which have it fixed.

Reebok Freestyles are mainly made in leather.

Reebok is a British make.

Adidas is a german make.

NIKE dunk SB's come in over 65 colour, variations and styles.