The Avia Story

Avia is an American athletic footwear brand founded in Portland, Oregon in 1979 by Jerry Stubblefield. Stubblefield invented the Cantilever sole, a concave heel structure that absorbs ground-reaction force by flexing outward on impact instead of compressing vertically like flat-bottom cushioning systems.

The Cantilever was the first widely adopted biomechanical cushioning system in athletic shoes and was imitated by multiple competitors within three years of its patent. By 1988, Avia reached the top five in U.S. athletic shoe sales.

NBA players including Scottie Pippen (Chicago Bulls, 1987-89), John Stockton (Utah Jazz), Clyde Drexler (Portland Trail Blazers), and A.C. Green (Los Angeles Lakers) wore Avia basketball shoes during game play. The Avia 855, worn by Pippen during his rookie season, became one of the most recognizable basketball shoes of the late 1980s.

The brand changed ownership through Reebok (1987), American Sporting Goods Corporation (late 1990s), and Sequential Brands Group (2014) before Galaxy Universal acquired Avia in 2021 following Sequential's Chapter 11 filing.

Today, Avia focuses exclusively on affordable athletic footwear for men, women, and children. The product line spans running, walking, court, gym, and work shoes. The Cantilever cushioning concept continues in updated form across current midsole designs.