CONVERSE CHUCK TAYLORS: Kamala Harris has long been a fan of Chuck Taylors, the classic sneakers by Converse.
She wears the style frequently; a video of the Senator wearing her Black Low Tops when arriving in Milwaukee created an online sensation, racking up nearly 8 million views in less than 24 hours.
Laced up and ready to win.pic.twitter.com/scLX6nNJXo
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 7, 2020
We learn more about Ms. Harris’s collection via Anna Silman’s 2018 piece in The Cut:
I have a whole collection of Chuck Taylors: a black leather pair, a white pair, I have the kind that don’t lace, the kind that do lace, the kind I wear in the hot weather, the kind I wear in the cold weather, and the platform kind for when I’m wearing a pantsuit.
Below you see the Vice Presidential candidate wearing the Natural Ivory Low Tops at the 2019 Pride Parade in San Francisco.
Arguably the most notable design she has worn is the Social Status x Nina Chanel x Converse Chuck Taylor.
Social Status is an upscale street fashion and sneaker boutique. Ms. Harris visited the shop when she was in Charlotte, NC.
More from the shop’s blog:
Using the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star due to the model’s history, it is the perfect canvas to highlight the current American and world socio-political climate.
Featuring custom pins touching on subjects ranging from Black Lives Matter, LBGTQ rights, and climate change, the shoe is designed with the present top of mind and adds to the silhouette’s cultural presence in arts and activism.
Inspired by Ms. Harris, the design was produced in a very limited run, and none were for sale. Social Status donated all of them to students of Solefood Digestible Sneaker Culture, a course taught by Dr. Jemayne L. King at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, NC.
Ms. Harris wore the All Star Lift Herringbone in the Almost Black colorway at a Des Moines candidates’ forum in August 2019.
The Vice President-elect is also fond of the basic Low Top in white, seen below at a New Hampshire campaign event in 2019.
There is a fun backstory on this particular appearance: according to Deepa Shivaram, a campaign embed for NBC News, these are not the Senator’s shoes; she had left them at her hotel. When Ms. Harris discovered the ground was too soft for the heels she was wearing, an organizer took off her own Converse and loaned them to the Senator. When the event concluded, Ms. Harris returned them to the organizer, signed!
It’s true! https://t.co/7VZUdzncvI pic.twitter.com/lGmtNVDUdj
— SJP (@sjoypearson) September 7, 2020
The senator also wears the All Star Leather Ox style ($54.95), seen most recently on the campaign trail in Georgia and North Carolina. The shoe has a pebbled leather upper and the standard All Star features: rubber cap toe, textured toe bumper, contrast sidewall trim, and medial-side air vent holes.
In the 2024 campaign, we saw the Vice President wear the All-Star Platform Sneaker ($70) in black canvas.
The style is canvas with a 1-1/2″ heel. It is available in a range of colors.
And what does Converse say about all the attention? Chelsea Janes has more in this 2020 Washington Post story:
“While we’re unable to share specific sales data, we are pleased to see that the Vice Presidential nominee has chosen the Chuck Taylor All Star as a reflection of her personal identity,” the company said in a statement.
By no means is this the comprehensive list of the styles Ms. Harris has worn.
