What was the first cupsole shoe in history?

[cricketclub]

I can't find any information on this. Complex, in their article Sneaker Innovations We're Thankful For state, "We can't pinpoint the invention of the cupsole, but without it we're all still in vulc soles and plimsolls."

Was it the first adidas tennis shoe of 1963-4? (that would become the Robert Haillet and then the Stan Smith)

The adidas Supergrip of 1965, the predecessor to the Superstar, is another early example it seems.

As is the 1966 adidas Gazelle.

Nike's first basketball shoe, The Blazer of 1973 had a vulc sole. I think their first basketball cupsole was the Air Force 1 of 1982.

[stets]

I think you are correct. I was thinking maybe Converse with the shoes Dr. J wore, but that was the mid 70's.

That Haillet that morphed into the Stan Smith is the first cupsole I can find documentation of. Maybe a smaller company had one first? There is a really great shoe museum in Toronto that I went to a year ago, I wish I would have asked about that!

Side note, the Gazelle isn't actually a cupsole. It is a "cold wrapped" construction, assembled in a similar to vulcanization. But instead of throwing it in a vulc oven, the bottom and sidewall tape are just glued together.

[cricketclub]

I think you are correct. I was thinking maybe Converse with the shoes Dr. J wore, but that was the mid 70's.

That Haillet that morphed into the Stan Smith is the first cupsole I can find documentation of. Maybe a smaller company had one first? There is a really great shoe museum in Toronto that I went to a year ago, I wish I would have asked about that!

Side note, the Gazelle isn't actually a cupsole. It is a "cold wrapped" construction, assembled in a similar to vulcanization. But instead of throwing it in a vulc oven, the bottom and sidewall tape are just glued together.

Wow thanks for that info! That gives some depth to the recent "vulc" adidas shoes that also utilize EVA.