Reebok

Reebok traces its roots to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sports shoe company founded in 1895 in Bolton, England, that famously provided spikes for Olympic champions including Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell — the athletes portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire. In 1958, two grandsons of the founder created a companion company named Reebok, after the rhebok, a swift African antelope. The brand incorporated in the United States in 1979 under the leadership of Paul Fireman and experienced explosive growth throughout the 1980s.

Reebok's defining moment came in 1982 with the launch of the Freestyle, the first athletic shoe specifically designed for women's aerobics. It became the best-selling athletic shoe in the world and sparked a fitness revolution, making Reebok the dominant athletic brand of the decade. The Classic Leather (1983), Club C 85, and Workout Plus cemented its place in lifestyle footwear. In basketball, the Pump technology (1989) — a custom-fit inflation system — became iconic through Dee Brown's no-look dunk at the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest, while the Question and Answer models, developed with Allen Iverson, became legendary in basketball culture.

After being acquired by Adidas in 2006 and later sold to Authentic Brands Group in 2021, Reebok has refocused on its heritage in fitness, retro lifestyle, and basketball. The Classic Leather and Club C franchises enjoy continuous popularity as everyday staples, while new collaborations with brands like Maison Margiela and designers like Kerwin Frost keep Reebok relevant in contemporary fashion. The Nano series remains a go-to for CrossFit athletes, maintaining the brand's deep roots in functional fitness.