To summarize Muther, Sperry Top-Siders were extremely popular in the 1980's, as helped by Lisa Birnbach's The Official Preppy Handbook. The clientele was 90% male, and most of them were in their 40s and 50s. According to Ms. Birnbach, "You were saying, 'Hi, I'm Chris, I'm running over to the yacht club.' But you were saying it with your shoes. Or 'I'm going to squeeze in a quick sail in between going to the library and going to a cocktail party' to create this idea of a great life."
The shoe was first invented in 1935 when Paul Sperry noticed that his cocker spaniel had great traction while on the ice in Connecticut winters. Sperry studied the treads on his dog's paws, and created a shoe with a similar tread pattern to give him traction on the wet deck of his boat. The shoe reached the peak of it's popularity in the late 70s and early 80s because it represented a posh lifestyle.
However, the shoe lost most of its popularity in the 90s and was frequently found in discount shoe stores. President of Sperry, Craig Reingold says, "it was clearly a declining brand. That was when they were cheapening the product. They were using a lesser grade of leather. You can't do that."
Beginning in 2008, (to make a much longer story short) the brand was seen on the runways of NYC fashion shows by designers who were looking for "American Heritage" brands. It has been seen on the feet of many celebrities from Kanye West to Blake Lively. The brand has seen a shift, in that now more females are buying the shoe than men.
In spring 2013, Sperry will start selling luggage, watches, and other accessories. In the next couple of years, sunglasses, belt, swimwear, and even a clothing line will be introduced.
You can read all of Christopher's article, here. It is definitely worth a read.
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