Why Converse Is Bringing Back the Pro Leather

What you need to know about how Converse is celebrating the Pro Leather's 40th anniversary.

Converse Pro Leather OG Box
Image via Complex Original / David Cabrera
Converse Pro Leather OG Box

The Converse Pro Leather is 40 years old. When it first hit the market in 1976, a time where several sneaker brands were in a competitive arms race to put out basketball shoes, the Pro Leather was the pinnacle of what the brand had to offer.

The sneaker’s main selling point: a two-piece leather upper with a cupsole, a first for the brand. The silhouette mostly went untouched over the years that Converse was producing it, except for some subtle changes to the tapering of the Cons chevron and the placement of branding. Retail prices hovered just around $30 and was the shoe was discontinued around 1984.

The Pro Leather might’ve been best known for its time on the feet of Julius “Dr. J” Erving in the ABA and NBA and Michael Jordan in the NCAA. One of Jordan’s first crowning achievements happened in the sneaker, as he hit the game-winning shot in the 1982 NCAA Finals.

Last seen in 2012, Converse is looking to bring the Pro Leather back in a major way. We first saw monochromatic black and white versions of the sneaker released last month. Later this month, a pack of several other colorways will drop in rich suede. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. We sat down with Cons Senior Director of Footwear Ryan Cross to get an inside look at the past, present, and future of the Pro Leather. 

Lowtop Converse Pro Leather OG

Why was right now the time to bring this back?
Ryan Cross: It's been four years since people have last seen shoe. We’re not out there yelling that it's a the 40-year anniversary. A lot of the things going on in the market and we want to leverage our heritage, and really start to talk about icons that are beyond Chuck Taylor. The brand is fortunate enough to own the most iconic sneaker in the history, but we are more than that. We over 100 something years and other points in time with tremendous heritage and authenticity.

When you look at sort of the featured franchises in the archive, Pro Leather is definitely one of them. It was worn at one point by amazing athletes and teams in the NBA and NCAA. It definitely speaks to basketball, but it also a little of a tennis. It's a clean court silhouette. We feel really good about that.

Why is there no leather on these Pro Leathers?
RC: We just want to come back and celebrate the essence of the shoe. And we look back at its heritage, and the idea of these really beautiful saturated suedes and team colors that sort of spoke to the authenticity of it. That’s sort of the reason. That we wanted to get people to know that we have a great back catalogue with a lot of heritage that literally on court and streets has tremendous presence.

Converse Pro Leather Suede Pack

When would you say it infiltrated the streets and was more of a lifestyle shoe?
RC: I can’t pinpoint that exact moment when it started to be adopted more as a street style, but definitely more in recent history. A few years back, brand went out and partnered with Stussy and Patta and introduced it to a new generation. I think kids started checking for it historically to understand its authenticity. There were tremendous moments in this shoe like the shot Jordan hit in the NCAA Finals. It's been a couple years since it’s last been out and we really want to re-establish this shoe as a staple in your collection and in your wardrobe.

You mentioned the shot. Dr. J was also one of the NBA players that made it famous. How important is it to you to tell those stories to kids who weren’t around when those things were happening?
RC: I think it will always matter to a certain subset of the consumer base. Some kids are really down for that. Maybe those kids skew a little bit older, or maybe they’re just passionate about their sneakers to want to learn about them. But I think for the most part when you get to the larger broader audience it's just, not about the kids necessarily caring about the history, it’s just about they feel comfortable when they rock it. There's a sort of a split market place where kids really don’t care and and just want purely a style choice.

Sort of like the Chuck Taylor.
RC: Yeah, the whole story of Chuck Taylor not being an NBA guy, which is being sort of this traveling basketball icon. Some kids are going to want to know that and some kids are going to be like, I know that shoe.

Converse Pro Leather Notebook

The shoes have gone through very subtle changes like throughout the years. What is sort of different in this more recent version?
RC: What we’ve done is try to improve the overall comfort of the shoe, by adding Lunarlon technology. We are fortunate enough to have access to one of the premiere cushioning platforms in the industry through Nike. That’s really the major change. Overall, the look and feel of the shoe is as it’s been, but you're going to get a much more comfortable experience.

How about anesthetically? The chevron went through some slight changes over the years. Is this true to the original 1976 version?
RC: We liked the idea of the imperfect chevron element. Those certain details and not getting to a place where it’s super overbuilt. Everyone loves to put their touch and spin on it but overall we just want it to be a true expression of simplicity. It’s a beautiful blank canvas in a way. So people can just style it out and adopt it for their own.

Original Converse Pro Leather

Over this past year, we saw the Chuck II and then another re-imagining of the silhouette in the Chuck Modern. Are there similar plans for the Pro Leather to update the shoe?
RC: Well, yes. There is a plan overall for us to be more contemporary and to create things that are more modern by leveraging our heritage. Whether that is a pure execution of a Pro Leather or what. Stay tuned and watch this space and see how we take advantage of modernization the brand, and moving the brand forward by leveraging our heritage. I’ll leave it at that.

Last time the shoe was out, Converse partnered up with Jordan Brand for a special pack that commemorated the 30th anniversary of MJ’s NCAA championship. Could we see something like that again down the line?
RC: It’s always a possibility. We’re always hoping for the opportunities that let us cross-pollinate with different brands in the portfolio. Anything is possible, so keep it an eye out.

Sneakers from the Converse Pro Leather ’76 “Vintage Suede” collection will be available at Converse retail stores, Converse.com, Foot Locker and select retailers worldwide on November 21 for $80.

Converse Pro Leather Heel