Keds facts for kids
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Sportswear and Sports Goods |
| Founded | 1916 |
| Headquarters |
Lexington, Massachusetts
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United States
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Areas served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Gillian Meek, President Blake Kruger, CEO of Wolverine World Wide |
| Products | Footwear |
| Parent | Wolverine World Wide |
Keds is an American brand of canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. The original shoe design, the Champion, was the first mass-marketed canvas-top "sneaker."
History
In 1916, U.S. Rubber 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. Because the shoes had a soft rubber sole, they became known as sneakers as the rubber soles allowed "sneaking around silently". By the early 1920s, the shoes were worn by Olympic soccer players, national and international tennis champions, and college athletes. In 1926, the Keds Triumph shoe was introduced.
Pro-Keds were introduced as a line of sneakers designed for athletic performance. Designed specifically for basketball players, the original style, the Royal Tread, was endorsed by George Mikan. In 1953, the Minneapolis Lakers were outfitted with Pro-Keds. Pro-Keds were intended to compete with the industry standard, Converse. 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, as well as music icons, The Ramones. The shoe earned cult status in the hip-hop community by the late 1970s.
In the 1990s, Demi Moore voiced a television campaign for Keds. Mischa Barton, who starred in The O.C., became the face of Keds in an ad campaign in the late 2000s.
Popular culture
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, Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) in Dirty Dancing, and Cat (Ariana Grande) on Sam and Cat.
The shoes have been worn by celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Betty White, Humphrey Bogart, Ariana Grande, Fred Rogers, and Taylor Swift.
In the Stephen King novella Apt Pupil, guidance counselor Ed French owns several pairs of Keds, which he (incorrectly) believes will endear him to the student body. They nickname him "Sneaker Pete" and "The Ked Man."
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.
Images for kids
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Keds Champion sneaker, for women, 1916
