In 1967, Nike Air Max 270 Womens the company that would become the world famous shoe brand Nike needed an identity for its new, state-of-the-art running Nike Air Odyssey Femme shoe.Co-founders Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman settled on “Aztec,” according to Knight’s autobiography. But industry giant Nike Air Presto Femme Adidas had a track spike called “Azteca Gold” and was allegedly threatening to sue.Chewing over their choices, the Oregon entrepreneurs fired the first volley of a decades-long rivalry with the German shoemaker. Knight explained how their displeasure with Adidas led to Nike Air Max 90 Mujer Negras the eventual selection. “Who was that guy who kicked the (crap) out of the Aztecs?” Bowerman asked Knight. “Cortez,” he responded. “Okay,” Bowerman said, “let’s call it the Cortez.”In the 50 years since that fateful (if impolitic) branding decision, Nike became both commercial behemoth and cultural phenomenon, catering to the feet Adidas NMD Womens of athletes and couch potatoes alike. But by last year, the tide of the long battle had turned. Adidas AG was once Nike Air Huarache Womens again ascendant via two sneakers originally designed in the 1960s: the Stan Smith Nike Air Max 95 Homme and the Superstar. They outsold every other kick in America and sent Adidas’s share of the U.S. footwear market skyward by 83 percent—with much of those gains swiped from Nike Air Max 2017 Femme Nike.

Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike Inc. was losing ground for the first time in decades. Future orders fell 4 percent in three months Nike Air Huarache Mujer ended February, from both retail partners and the company’s own stores. Every geographic region, save emerging markets, posted a major drop in business.Nike really needed a winner—a surefire hit that would once again fill sidewalks and stadiums with Swooshes, from the runways of SoHo to the pressure-sensing track that Knight bought for the Nike Air VaporMax Mujer University of Oregon. In September of last year, Chief Executive Officer Mark Parker started laying the groundwork. Adidas ZX Flux Womens He told analysts and investors that, like Adidas, Nike would look to past successes to win today’s market. The Cortez, Nike Air Max 2017 Mujer he announced, would be making a comeback.The reboot was big, even by Nike standards. In May, the company enlisted supermodel Nike Air Zoom Spiridon Mujer Bella Hadid for an elaborate photo shoot. First she reclined across the bench seat of a massive, Jimmy Carter-era car, the sneakers Nike Air Max 95 Femme brilliant against the brown velour. Next she sat on a metallic-gold BMX bike, her shoes stuffed with white-cotton dad socks. Then she squatted down with a tiny skateboard, wearing a sports-bra and high-waisted, flared jeans, a nod to a decades-old shot of 1970s favorite Farrah Fawcett.

Sneakerhead blogs and fashion magazines ran the photos as a story www.rockstarbodies.co.uk unto themselves.A few months later, Nike expanded the Cortez campaign, hiring Kendrick Lamar to be its pitchman, a partnership the musician blasted on social media with a plug for the old/new shoe.Meanwhile, the company whipped Nike Air Vapormax Womens its designers and factories up to speed, cranking out a steady stream of special Cortez editions to complement the classic Nike Air Max 90 Womens iteration, with its red swoosh and blue stripe—what sneaker fanatics call “the Forest Gumps.” In May, there was the “Compton” colorway, Nike Air Presto Womens flicking at the shoe’s popularity in Los Angeles street culture, and the “Kenny Moore” collection, a reference to an Oregon track star. In June, the company dropped a pair featuring its popular Flyknit upper material. In July, there was another collection, this time a collaboration with Mister Cartoon, a designer best known for celebrity tattoos and graffiti. Adidas Superstar Womens Nike even stamped out a China edition, honoring the country’s first world champion in track.