sports goods founded 1916 ; 100 years ago 1916 headquarters lexington massachusetts united states areas served worldwide key people chris lindner president blake kruger ceo of wolverine world wide products footwear parent wolverine world wide website www.keds.com keds is an american brand of canvas shoes with rubber soles . founded in 1916 1 the company is owned by wolverine world wide . 2 the original shoe design the champion was the first mass marketed canvas top sneaker . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 1930 2000 1.3 modern expansion 1.4 centennial year 2 popular culture 3 references 4 external links history edit early history edit in 1916 u.s. rubber one of the original 12 stocks in the dow jones industrial average in 1896 4 consolidated 30 different shoe brand names to create one company . initially the brand name peds was chosen for the company from the latin word for feet but the name was already trademarked . keds was founded in 1916 and was later acquired by stride rite corporation . 5 6 because the shoes had a soft rubber sole they became known as sneakers as the rubber soles allowed sneaking around silently . 7 8 9 by the early 1920s the shoes were worn by olympic soccer players national and international tennis champions and college athletes . 10 in 1926 the keds triumph shoe was introduced . 11 1930 2000 edit keds released kedettes a line of washable high heeled shoes for women in 1938 . 12 13 14 in 1949 pro keds were introduced as a line of sneakers designed for athletic performance . 15 designed specifically for basketball players the original style the royal tread 16 was endorsed by george mikan . in 1953 the minneapolis lakers were outfitted with pro keds . 17 pro keds were intended to compete with the industry standard converse . 17 18 19 pro keds were worn by nba stars including willis reed kareem abdul jabbar nate tiny archibald jojo white bob love lou hudson bob lanier and pistol pete maravich 16 as well as music icons the ramones . 20 the shoe earned cult status in the hip hop community by the late 1970s . 16 stride rite corporation purchased keds and sperry top sider from uniroyal in 1979 for 18 million . 18 21 in the 1990s demi moore voiced a television campaign for keds . 22 mischa barton who starred in the o.c. became the face of keds in an ad campaign in the late 2000s . 23 modern expansion edit in january 2012 rick blackshaw was appointed brand president of keds . 24 collective brands inc. the parent company of stride rite corporation and keds was acquired by wolverine world wide for 1.32 billion in may 2012 . 2 in 2012 keds announced a partnership with singer taylor swift including product collaborations . 25 keds sponsored swift s the red tour in 2013 26 and the 1989 world tour in 2015 . 27 footwear plus recognized keds as the best collab in 2014 for its keds x taylor swift collection . 28 in september 2014 wolverine world wide announced that rick blackshaw would be the brand president of sperry top sider . 29 chis linder former cmo and senior vice president of business development for sperry top sider became president of keds . 30 keds launched the ladies first since 1916 campaign in july 2015 which focuses on female empowerment and featured celebrities including taylor swift . 31 centennial year edit keds celebrated its centennial in 2016 and the continuation of its ladies first since 1916 campaign 32 with a birthday celebration held during new york fashion week . 33 to mark the occasion keds launched keds collective a campaign to feature famous inspirational women following the 2015 ladies first campaign . 34 allison williams joined the campaign as creative director and star of the brands video shorts titled woman s touch and uncharted territories . 35 the campaign also included a collaborative shoe design with ciara . the brand also introduced the keds custom studio which allows customers to create their own shoe designs on the keds website . 36 the company also announced that its shoe manufacturing was moving to michigan in the u.s. for the first time in 35 years . 32 popular culture edit from the mid 1980s through the mid 1990s keds were very popular with girls from elementary school age through tween and teens and college age and beyond . they were often worn with slouch socks . especially with the slouch socks worn over leggings with an oversized sweater sweatshirt or tee shirt . moms also wore this same trend as their daughters . also keds were worn with white slouch socks over black tights and a skirt or knee length or shorter dress or with the slouch socks and a baby doll dress over bike shorts or knee length leggings . the shoes have been featured in television and film including kelly kapowski tiffani thiessen on saved by the bell stephanie jodie sweetin and d.j. candace cameron on full house lucy camden on 7th heaven becca thatcher kellie martin on life goes on and frances baby houseman jennifer grey in dirty dancing . the shoes have been worn by celebrities including marilyn monroe jackie kennedy onassis katherine hepburn paul newman betty white and humphrey bogart . 9 13 keds has produced collaborative collections with companies including kate spade new york madewell opening ceremony steven alan and alice olivia . in 2009 keds launched a collaboration with loomstate which was sold at barneys . the shoes were made with organic cotton recycled rubber and non toxic inks and dyes . 37 keds are mentioned in the wheatus song teenage dirtbag . the girl sung about wears them . 38 references edit 99 years of keds . athm . april 9 2015 . retrieved april 25 2016 . a b john kell may 1 2012 . owner of stride rite payless to be split up . the wall street journal . retrieved april 25 2016 . robert j. baptista may 19 2009 . naugatuck chemical company . colorants history . retrieved april 25 2016 . the 12 original dow stocks where are they now . msn . july 1 2015 . retrieved april 25 2016 . keds sneakers . retrieved 24 february 2010 . evan morris november 9 2004 . from altoids to zima the surprising stories behind 125 famous brand names . simon and schuster . keds brings sneaker art to gortz 17 stores . sportswear international . april 13 2011 . retrieved april 25 2016 . it isn t spring without keds . trendsylvania . may 4 2015 . retrieved april 25 2016 . a b roseary feitelberg november 23 2011 . keds kicks off apparel at opening ceremony . wwd . retrieved april 25 2016 . stephanie pedersen august 15 2005 . shoes what every woman should know . david & charles . mark mcnairy x keds triumph canvas . fng magazine . july 9 2012 . retrieved april 25 2016 . kedettes . the hutchinson news . april 19 1938 . a b marketing keds to a new generation of feet . university of pennsylvania . february 24 2011 . retrieved april 25 2016 . jean williams april 24 2014 . a contemporary history of women s sport part one . routledge . martin marks october 23 2009 . flashback bobbito garcia revamps the pro keds royal flash . paper magazine . retrieved april 25 2016 . a b c mari davis january 13 2009 . pro keds shoes the original court king . fashion windows . retrieved april 25 2016 . a b nick santora october 16 2012 . the 50 most influential sneaker sponsorships in sports history . complex . retrieved april 25 2016 . a b stephen m. pribut douglas h. richie . 2002 a sneaker odyssey . dr. stephem m. pribut s sport pages . retrieved april 25 2016 . yuniya kawaura january 28 2016 . sneakers fashion gender and subculture . bloomsbury publishing . tyler atwood april 4 2014 . how did converse become popular a brief history of the iconic sneaker . bustle . retrieved april 25 2016 . n. r. kleinfield march 23 1986 . sailing to the top . the new york times . retrieved april 25 2016 . my life as a voice the road to show biz through your golden pipes . los angeles times . june 18 1995 . retrieved may 2 2016 . mischa face of keds . new idea . december 5 2006 . retrieved may 2 2016 . collective brands appoints rick blackshaw as keds brand president . marketing weekly news . february 11 2012 . taylor swift meets her perfect match keds . refinery29 . 2010 10 11 . retrieved 2014 05 29 . keds signs on as taylor swift tour sponsor announces limited edition red tour sneaker . kelo fm . march 18 2013 . retrieved may 2 2016 . keds celebrates the 1989 world tour . complex . retrieved may 2 2016 . footwear plus announces plus awards winers . footwear plus . february 5 2015 . retrieved may 2 2016 . shandra martinez september 26 2014 . wolverine world wide switches up leadership of keds sperry top sider brands . mlive . retrieved april 25 2016 . executive changes at wolverine worldwide . sportswear international . september 16 2014 . retrieved april 25 2016 . lara o reilly july 22 2015 . keds wants taylor swift to transform its canvas shoes into feminist icons . business insider . retrieved april 25 2016 . a b rhonda schaffler february 9 2016 . keds president on how to keep a 100 year old brand on its toes . the street . retrieved may 2 2016 . gina marinelli february 12 2016 . ciara sang at a 100th birthday party this week . refinery 29 . retrieved may 2 2016 . anna lisa yabsley february 10 2016 . keds enlists leading women to help mark its centennial year . footwear news . retrieved may 3 2016 . laura lorenzetti february 11 2016 . the new keds ad campaign is all about girl power . fortune . retrieved may 3 2016 . chan lo february 11 2016 . snaps ciara tori kelly and allison williams team up with keds for centennial campaign . cnk daily . retrieved may 3 2016 . loomstate makes eco friendly keds . los angeles times . june 12 2009 . retrieved may 3 2016 . teenage dirtbag lyrics wheatus . retrieved june 18 2016 . external links edit official website keds studio keds green keds kids keds v t e clothing historical clothing traditional and national clothing tops blouse crop top dress shirt guayabera guernsey halterneck henley shirt hoodie jersey polo shirt shirt sleeveless shirt sweater sweater vest t shirt 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cagoule cape chesterfield coat covert coat cut off duffel coat flight jacket gilet goggle jacket guards coat harrington jacket hoodie jacket leather jacket mess