Female athletes are "called on to endorse everything from headphones and hamburgers to credit cards and paper towels, but the number of shoe models on the retail market named for them is down to zero," according to Ann-Derrick Gaillot of ROLLING STONE. It is "surprising" that signature athletic shoes named after women are "nonexistent in a time when sneakers are more popular than ever." Female athletes are by "no means ignored by today's sneaker manufacturers," as top athletic apparel companies like Nike, adidas, Reebok and Puma all sponsor a number of female basketball, soccer, tennis, golf and track and field athletes, "using their images and playing records to sell all types of athletic merchandise." But the "honor of having a shoe model named after them is not extended to any of these women." Whether as athletes or performers, men are still "marketed based on their strength, while women are still marketed in relation to their mass sex appeal." This "explains why signature sneakers named after women today are most likely to be named for designers and entertainers than athletes." Gaillot noted it is "no coincidence that the height of women's signature shoes coincided with the WNBAs peak game attendance" of nearly 11,000 in '98. Tennis HOFers Chris Evert and Billie Jean King "both had their own signature shoes" in the '70s, but Serena Williams "does not have her own signature sneaker." No current player on the USWNT has a signature cleat. Meanwhile, WNBA player exclusives "may be paving the way for dedicated signature sneakers in the near future." Sky F Elena Delle Donne's Nike Hyperdunk Player Exclusive shoes will emerge on the U.S. retail market by the end of the year, joining fellow Wings G Skylar Diggins' Nike Zoom HyperRev. Both shoes "are unisex Nike shoes in men's sizing" (ROLLINGSTONE.com, 11/29).
