Chuck Taylors alternatives

There are a bunch of companies that have produced shoes with the same basic design of the Converse "Chuck Taylor" All Stars. If you know of one, please add it to this page. If you've bought and used a pair, please add your impressions to this page.

Ethletics

Available at the Autonomie Project store and available in olive green.

Blackspot Sneaker

Produced by an offshot of an AdBusters, the shoe pitches itself as an "anti-brand." Of course, an anti-brand is still a brand. The shoe is reasonably well constructed but expensive (~US $75). It is union made and comes with a share in the "anti-corporation" which, to date, has only been useful in voting on new product decisions. Annoyingly, there is also a red dot on one toe "for kicking corporate ass." Available from the AdBusters store. Now also available in red in addition to black.

No Sweat Apparel

No Sweat makes a nice union-produced, "sweatshop free" version that is pretty close to a normal pair of Chucks. They have been produced in a variety of colors. They are currently (2009-06) liquidating their merchandise completely and shoes are going at $10 a pair(!). It's not clear that will produce more shoes in the future and, in fact, seems somewhat unlikely.