Nike | Pioneer of the Sneaker Culture in the world

Nike, Inc., is an American Sportwear company. The company is headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, United States. Nike has over 1096 retail stores throughout the world. It is the world’s largest athletic shoe manufacturer with an estimated market share of 28%.

History of Nike

Nike was formerly known as Blue Ribbon Sports from 1964-78 by Bill Bowerman. Bill Bowerman was a track-and-field coach at the University of Oregon, and his former student Phil Knight. Bowerman customed a shoe for Knight and it worked so well that his teammate took them and ended up winning gold in the 400-meter dash in the 1960s Olympics. Both of them launched the brand in 1966 and their first shoe in 1972. Knight was the first person to try Bowerman’s shoe. In 1978 they renamed the company, Nike.Inc., and went public.
In the late 1980s, Nike started expanding its business and diversified itself through numerous acquisitions.
Blue Ribbon Sports aka Nike initially sold them out of Knight’s car when he came back to the States. It became popular and demand for these was high as they were cheap but high-quality alternatives to Adidas and Puma who dominated the market.

Way Towards Success

In 1965, Bowerman proposed a new shoe design to the Tiger shoe company, one that provide the right support for runners with a cushioned innersole, soft sponge rubber in the forefoot and top of the heel, hard sponge rubber in the middle of the heel, and a firm rubber outsole. The design turned out to be a major success and became an instant hit for its comfortable, sturdy, and stylish design. During the company’s success, Tiger claims to have discovered Blue Ribbon Sports selling their own version of the Tiger Cortez under a new line of shoes they called ‘Nike’. In 1971, both the companies parted ways and lead only to sell their own versions of the model, Tiger Corsair now sold by Tiger’s modern name Asics.
In a 2009 documentary about advertising, Dan confessed that he took inspiration from a convicted murderer’s last words to the firing squad before his execution: “Let’s do it!”.

Sneakerhead Culture

In 1984, Michael Jordan wanted to sign with Adidas but Nike gave him $ 500,000 a year for five years and the opportunity to design his own line of shoes. The new shoe became insanely successful and a new edition of the shoe dropped every year of Jordan’s playing career. Michael Jordan’s collaboration with Nike helped the brand become the leading athletic shoe manufacturer in the world. Over the years Nike has collaborated with Fashion houses like Dior, Rappers and singers like Kanye West and Drake, and Jewellery brands like Swarovski and many more.
The rarest sneaker made by Nike is the Nike MAG, worn by Marty McFly when he time-travelled to 2015 in the Back to the Future II 1989 movie. The Jordan Brand continues to largely drive sneaker sales. The Air Jordan 1 is widely credited as the shoe that began sneaker culture. In 2020, the brand also became one of the most valuable brands in the world.