Sperry or Sperry Top-Sider is an American brand of boat shoe designed in 1935 by Paul A. Sperry. Sperrys, or Top-Siders, were the first boat shoes introduced into the boating and footwear markets. Today the Sperry brand is owned by

Wolverine World Wide Wolverine World Wide, Inc. or Wolverine Worldwide, is a publicly traded American footwear manufacturer based in Rockford, Michigan. The shoemaker is known for its eponymous brand, Wolverine Boots and Shoes, as well as other brands, such as Hush ...

and is headquartered in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...

History

While sailing on the

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

, inventor and sailor Paul A. Sperry slipped on the deck of his boat and fell overboard. He was able to pull himself back on board, but the experience drove him to develop a non-slip shoe for boating. While experimenting, he noticed his

cocker spaniel Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the spaniel dog type: the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, Cocker ...

's ability to run down an icy hill without slipping. Examining its paws, he noticed traction-enhancing grooves, which he sought to mimic by cutting a pattern of them into a natural rubber sole utilizing a process known as siping. The Sperry "Top-Sider" boat shoe that was introduced in 1935 featured a canvas upper, herringbone siping, and a white outsole to prevent the shoe from leaving dark scuff marks on a boat's deck. The Commonwealth Shoe and Leather Co. later partnered with Sperry on a design using specially tanned water-resistant leather, which became the familiar Sperry "boat shoe". Sperry's shoes remained a niche product for boaters until 1939 when the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

negotiated the right to manufacture the shoe for its sailors at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. As a result of this increased production, Sperry sold the brand to the US Rubber Co. in 1940. In 1979 the

Stride Rite Corporation Stride Rite, formerly the Stride Rite Corporation and stylized in all lowercase, is an American children's footwear company. The company markets Stride Rite products globally through brand licensee Vida Shoes International. History Founding an ...

purchased both Sperry and

Keds Keds is an American brand of canvas shoes with rubber soles. Founded in 1916, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. The original shoe design, the Champion, was the first mass-marketed canvas-top "sneaker". History Early history In 1 ...

from US Rubber. In 2007

Payless ShoeSource Payless (formerly known as Payless ShoeSource Inc.) is an international discount footwear chain. Established in 1956 by cousins Louis and Shaol Pozez, Payless was a privately held company owned by Blum Capital, and Golden Gate Capital. In 1961, i ...

acquired Sperry Top-Sider as part of a multi-brand acquisition. The company was purchased, along with the other brands from the Collective Brands Performance and Lifestyle Group portfolio, in 2012 by

and

Blum Capital Partners Blum Capital Partners, L.P., also known as Blum Capital, is an American private equity firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm is focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and private investment in public equity, PIPE investme ...

for US$1.23 billion.

Present day

In 2009 Footwear News named Sperry Top-Sider the Brand of the Year. In early 2015 Sperry announced that the brand had dropped the defining trait "Top-Sider" name from the company as part of the footwear company's new brand campaign. Since 2021, Sperry has opened 2 specialty stores and 40 outlet stores across the United States.

Sponsorships

US Sailing Team Sperry

Sailors Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha in Haifa

Sperry is the official footwear sponsor of the

US Sailing The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing) is the national governing body for sailing in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. US Sailing offers t ...

Team Sperry, the US Junior Olympic Sailing Team and the US Paralympics Sailing Team.

America's Cup

In 1987, Sperry Top-Sider served as the official sponsor of the

America's Cup World Series The America's Cup World Series are match races and fleet regattas used as heats for the 2013 America's Cup and the 2017 America's Cup. The Yachts AC45 and AC45F The World Series uses AC45 catamarans, a one-design wingsail catamaran designed spec ...

. Sperry shoes were worn by champion sailor

Dennis Conner Dennis Walter Conner (born September 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America's Cup. Sailing career Conner was born September ...

during the race. Sperry served as the footwear sponsor for the America's Cup sailing tournament for several years, but later began to sponsor other sailing events. In 2015 Sperry became the official Footwear Partner of the 35th America's Cup and the official footwear supplier for

Oracle Team USA Oracle Team USA is an American yacht racing syndicate initially formed to compete for the 2003 America's Cup. They competed again in the 2007 event before winning the 33rd America's Cup regatta in 2010 – representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club ...

. In 2016 Sperry also became the Official Footwear supplier of SoftBank Team Japan. Through their America's Cup partnership, Sperry announced that they would collaborate with athletes to create custom footwear to wear during the rigorous competition.

References

External links

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International size chart for Sperry Top-Sider boatshoes
{{Running shoe brands 1935 establishments in Massachusetts Clothing companies established in 1935 Outdoor clothing brands Wolverine World Wide Companies based in Lexington, Massachusetts Sportswear American companies established in 1935 Sailing equipment manufacturers