The rest, as they say, is history.
You might be surprised to know that one of the world’s dominant shoe, sports equipment and clothing brands was aptly named after the Greek goddess of victory — and that the inspiration for the name struck during a dream. It began in 1964 with a casual agreement and a handshake between University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, a middle-distance runner. The pair formed Blue Ribbon Sports and began importing Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger running shoes, known today as ASICs, for sale in the U.S. In 1967, Knight and Bowerman made the handshake deal formal and incorporated as BRS Inc. Jeff Johnson signed on in 1965 as the company’s first full-time salesperson and opened Blue Ribbon Sports’ first retail outlet the following year. In 1971, Johnson made an incalculable contribution to the company: One night, he dreamed of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, and suggested the name to his bosses. The company used the moniker for its first footwear product to feature the “Swoosh” mark — a soccer cleat called the Nike, whose name beat out Knight’s suggestion that they call it the Dimension 6. The Swoosh trademark was created by a graphic-design student from Portland State University named Carolyn Davidson. She got $35 for her creation. Looking to expand the line, Bowerman began experimenting with the concept of athletic shoes with rubber spikes. By pouring a liquid rubber compound into his wife’s waffle iron, Bowerman created an innovative running-shoe sole. The company unveiled Nike “Moon Shoes” featuring the Waffle sole for athletes competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in 1972. A succession of shoes, many based on the waffle outsole, followed. Some of the most famous are the Waffle Racer, Air Force One and Air Max 97. When tees featuring a lower-case “nike” script logo designed by Davidson hit stores that year, folks unfamiliar with the name asked, “Who’s Mike?” when they spotted the shirts. A growing number of elite athletes competed in Nike footwear. Runner Mark Covert was the first athlete to wear Nike shoes across a finish line. Nike shoes got their first endorsement by a professional athlete when Romanian tennis personality Ilie Nastase signed on to wear Nikes on the court. In 1977, former aerospace engineer Frank Rudy teamed with Nike to create the first Air-Sole units — durable bags filled with pressurized gas that compressed under impact, then sprang back. The result was Nike Air cushioning, which hit stores in 1979. In 1980, Nike went public. The year 1984 saw the signing of basketball megastar Michael Jordan to an endorsement contract, followed by the 1985 release of his signature shoe, the Air Jordan. Originally, the NBA banned this new shoe because it didn’t match the league’s dress code, but the ban simply served to give the design a higher profile and extensive publicity. Nike revenues topped $1 billion for the first time in 1986. The rest, as they say, is history.
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