status. by the 50s and 60s, sneakers were mostly made by canvas and worn by kids. but a cooler customer was putting them on the map. if you went back to the time i was growing up, athletes made shoes cool. dr. j wore the converse one star and he practically invented the slam dunk. so whatever he was wearing was super school. the beginning of my career, i wore dress shoes to the office. about 1994 i stopped. it was a huge generational shift somewhere in that period where casual ware began to assert itself against the formality. the sneaker plays a functional role outside of the field or the corridor, the track. it becomes part of your public