Douglas Tompkins

 Douglas Tompkins, a former businessman, environmentalist and conservationist; was the creator of the popular equipment retail store The North face.

Tompkins was born in a small town in Ohio in 1943, and moved to New york early on.  His love for adventure began early on in the 1960's when he would spend his time in he mountains of Colorado, ski racing and rock climbing.  He took his love for adventure to greater heights when he traveled to Europe and South Africa. After returning to the states, he founded the California Mountaineering Guide Service, where he also met his wife, hiking in the foot hills of California.

The North face brand was established in 1966 in San Francisco, California when Tompkins and his wife created an outdoor equipment retail store; it eventually acquired the name The North Face.  They chose to name it that because the north face of a mountain (northern hemisphere) is generally the most difficult to climb.

By the 1980's they began carrying skiware and camping equipment, and now manufacture nearly half of all small backpacks manufactured in the US.

The North Face  company try's to maintain strong links with the outdoor community through its sponsored athlete program. Athletes such as Lizzy Hawker who recently won the Ultra Trail Tour du Mont Blanc has been sponsored by North Face.

Creators of Puma

Pumas have come a long way since the 1920's when they were created.  Two brothers, Rudolf and Adolf Dassler set up their own company in 1924 and called it Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler.  It has now become one of the world's leading manufacturers of athletic shoes, sportswear, and accessories

Adolf and Rudolf Dassler were born into a poor family ain the late 1800s. Their father, Christoph Dassler, was a worker at a shoe factory, while their mother, Pauline Dassler, ran a small laundry business. At age 15 Rudolf started working at the same shoe factory as his father. 
In the early 1920s Rudolf Dassler decided to open up a company with his brother Adolf as a business partnership. Their company produced mainly slippers and outdoor shoes at that time. Rudolf Dassler ran the business, while Adolf took care of the technical operations and production. They soon realized that there wasn't a good market for their shoes and so they switched their focus to the manufacture of track shoes and football boots.

In the late 1920s, the Dassler company took off and gained a good reputation among athletes and sporting goods companies due to their newest client, a sports club in Herzogenaurach, which was a major company in athletic shoes. Half of all athletes at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928 wore Dassler shoes. In 1936, African-American track star Jesse Owens brought the company into the public eye when he won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin wearing Dassler shoes.


Puma  is among the world's leading manufacturers of athletic shoes, sportswear, and accessories. The company is best known for its soccer shoes and has sponsored international soccer stars like Diego Armando Maradonna and Lothar Matthäus. The company also offers shoes and sports clothing. Since 1996 Puma has greatly increased its activities in the United States. They now own 25 percent of American brand sports clothing maker Logo Athletic, which is licensed by American professional basketball and football leagues.

Peter Moore: Originator Air Jordans

 Air Jordan's are a line of shoes originally endorsed by professional basketball player Michael Jordan.  They are a subdivision of Nike and have been releasing shoes since 1985 and currently still release new designs each year, even after the retirement of Michael Jordan.

The Air Jordan line began in 1985 by designer Peter Moore who started a new era in the design of basketball shoes.  His signature black and red shoe was the result countless hours by the design team and working with Michael Jordan himself.  Before the Air Jordan 1, most basketball shoes were white and design team wanted to do something radical.

For the second and third generation Jordan's, Moore and Michael worked closely together to create a brand new design scheme.  They were the three quarter cut basketball shoes made of higher quality and lighter than average materials.


 The first generation black and red model was banned by the NBA due to the NBA color rules. This actually helped to create more publicity for the shoes because Michael wore the vibrant black and red shoes in multiple games.  Michael continued wearing them even after he was fined five thousand dollars for every game he wore them in.


There have been over 30 designs for the Jordan line, created by many designers after Peter Moore but they have all followed the basic design that Moore had laid out.  The shoes have consistently been among the best selling basketball shoes since their creation in 1985.  It's a good bet that the brand and its tradition of quality, high-fashion basketball and athletic shoes will continue for many years.