Considering the impact of the brand today, it comes as somewhat of a shock to find that Nike’s first shoe designs didn’t debut until the 70s. This surprise, however, becomes unbelievably impressive when considering the pure speed of Nike’s rise. A once small-scale importer project out of the University of Oregon, creators Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman took the brand to the top of the sneaker market in under two decades, trademarking the “Air” technology that defines a long line of Air Max sneakers, along with introducing America’s favorite white sneaker, the Air Force 1. What followed--with the help of Michael Jordan, Lebron James and many others--can only be described as “history,” with collaborator lists making up the length of a marathon. Today’s work aims to promote environmentally-friendly production, constantly incorporating recycled and repurposed materials into their iconic product archive.
