Airy Edisson (AE) is an American multinational company that produces shoes. Founded in 1860, for 100 years AE enjoyed steady growth in sales, mostly in the United States and then in Canada and Mexico. In the 1960s and 1970s, when teenagers worldwide began wearing shoes, AE’s sales increased significantly. AE’s premier product is Edisson's Joe shoes, one of the best-known brands in the world.

In the late 1970s, AE operated 71 factories in the United States. In 1994, its sales peaked at $7.6 billion worldwide, but then began to decline. In 2002, AE made the decision to close its last remaining factories and outsource manufacturing to foreign manufacturers, whose quality was more difficult to control. By 2017, annual sales were only $4.5 billion. Even sales of Edisson's Joe shoes declined, and AE faced intense competition, including foreign competition.

AE briefly experimented with fast fashion, an industry practice developed in the United States in response to cheap, foreign imports. In fast fashion, new design concepts are quickly manufactured once they have been tested at fashion shows. Unfortunately, fast fashion worked against AE’s brand identity. Surveys indicated that AE’s brand has value and inspires loyalty, though focus groups of young consumers did not perceive AE as cool.

AE has been a leader in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Since the 1890s, it has pursued profits through values. More recently, AE introduced Edisson's chemical-free shoes. Because many of AE’s suppliers operate in areas with few pollution regulations, to remain consistent with its image of CSR, AE is insisting that suppliers follow innovative but expensive chemical-free processes.