At the end of the XVIII century, people wore shoes with rubber soles, called canvas shoes, but they were pretty rough and primitive, there was no division on the right / left leg. 1895 - Joseph William Foster (Bolton, England) made the first spiked shoes.
Approximately 1892 American Rubber Company came up with a more comfortable rubber shoes with uppers made of cloth, which was called "sneakers» («keds»). By 1917, this shoe came into mass production (it was called "sneakers" because the person wearing them, walked so softly that he could sneak up on anyone).
In 1920 in Germany, German entrepreneurs Adolf and Rudolf Dassler organized a factory for the production of footwear for training athletes-runners.
In the 1930s and 1940s, the company began producing footwear special shoes for each sport separately. The first tennis shoes appeared in France and were manufactured by Spring Court.
In the 1950s in the United States in connection with the demographic growth has increased in popularity as an easy sneakers and practical shoes. While sneakers were not very expensive compared to the classic leather shoes. During the first half of the XX century sports shoes worn mostly for sport. But in the fifties kids started wearing them, following the fashion, after the popular movie "Rebel Without a Cause" (Eng. «Rebel Without a Cause») with James Dean in the lead role.
In 1957, manufacturers of classic shoe leather decided to fight with the outflow of customers, so appeared the first statement that sneakers are very harmful to children and contribute to their development dystrophy foot. But it did not become an obstacle, and sneakers all also remained popular.
In the early 1960s, part of the sneaker was imported to the US market from Japan. Nike company at the time signed a contract with Onitsuka Tiger, and is engaged in importing Japanese footwear under its own name Blue Ribbon Sports.
In the 1970s, the United States has become a popular jogging, which allowed US companies to offer shoes for beginners in the sport. In addition, people started wearing sneakers as everyday shoes. First appeared sneakers created for everyday use. Many famous people began to wear sneakers for various events. Woody Allen wore sneakers and ballet theater, the musicians of Led Zeppelin wore sneakers during the filming of a documentary film, Dustin Hoffman, playing a role in a film reporter Carl Bernstein, also used running shoes.
In the 1990s, many shoe companies around the world have switched to the production of shoes. At this time, the industry's leading brands of shoes sneakers have become brands such as Adidas, Anta, ASICS, BATA, Converse, DC Shoes, Dunlop, Fila, Gola, Globe, Heelys, Jordans, K-Swiss, Keds, Keen, Lacoste, Li Ning, Lonsdale, Mizuno, New Balance, Nike, PF Flyers, Puma, Reebok, Saucony, Skechers, Slazenger, Sperry Top-Sider, Starbury, UK Gear, Vans.