History

From Moon Shoes to Spikes, how Nike conquered Oregon

In 1962, Phil Knight, a former Mile specialist, dreamed of developing a shoe prototype that would enable him to run faster and better. He discovered two things. The first was that, at the time, the market leaders were all manufactured in Japan. The second was that his former trainer Bill Bowerman - well known in Oregon - shared the same dream. So, when Knight teamed up with Bowerman and managed to convince a major Japanese brand to resell a piece from their collection in the USA, the beginnings of a crazy story were set in motion. At the time, Nike had yet to be born, but the running shoe industry was about to undergo a major upheaval.

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