Shoes 2010

Controversy

Although Chuck Taylors are, along with Dr. Martens, still closely associated with punk fashion, punks have been the target of criticism for wearing a shoe that is ultimately manufactured by Nike, a capitalist corporation that is widely known to produce their shoes in third-world sweatshops. Because of Nike's practices, wearing Converse shoes is at odds with punk's general association with left-wing politics, particularly anarchism and some forms of revolutionary socialism. This criticism has also come from within. Many punks now wear sweatshop-free imitations, such as those made by the Blackspot Anticorporation or No Sweat Apparel, so as to avoid such an ideological conflict.