The surprising reason why some sneakers have fuzzy bottoms

If you've ever wondered why your Converse All Stars have fuzzy bottoms, you may be disappointed to find out that it has less to do with "increased traction" (as some have speculated) and everything to do with the almighty dollar.The felt soles on the bottoms of the All Starsand other imported solesare a perfectexample of "tariff engineering," explainsthepatent blog Gazetc.com.Translation:The outsourced soles arespecially designed to fetch a lower US import tax.In this case, the special felt bottoms of the All Star cover more than 50% of the shoe's sole and allow it to be classified as a "slipper."Here's the kicker: The tariffrate for for rubber-bottomed shoes is 37.5%, but classifying the shoe as a slipper lowers it to 3%. When you sell in the volume that Converse does, this adds up to a significant amount of savings.Gazetc unearthed this weird factafter searching the patent code of the sole(6,430,844) on Google's patentsearching engine. What comes back is not a patent for a shoe at all, but something that looks likeand is described asa slipper.Fortunately, the fuzzy bottom doesn't affect the performance of the shoe.Though some have complained that their Chucks tend to be slippery out of the box, many have reported that the fuzz is not permanent and completely rubs after being worn for about a month.SEE ALSO:Converse ignored one glaring problem in the redesign of its best-selling shoeDON'T FORGET:Follow Business Insider's lifestyle page on Facebook!Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: What Adderall is actually doing to your body
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