Cortez

A revolutionary running shoe

When Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight set up Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964, they were responsible for distributing shoes in the United States on behalf of Japanese sports brand Onitsuka Tiger. While the company had no creative output of its own at that point, Bowerman, who was also a track and field coach at the University of Oregon, had been customising athletic footwear to help his students perform better for many years, so it seemed natural for him to design a model for Onitsuka in 1966. Using his coaching experience as a guide, he made the TG-24 – a revolutionary running shoe that became the foundation of the Nike brand. More than half a century later, this humble design goes by a new name: the Nike Cortez, as it remains one of the brand’s most popular and enduring silhouettes.

Varied inspirations

Although Bowerman had never designed a running shoe professionally before the TG-24, his years of experience in athletics and his time spent tinkering with footwear at home meant that he was ideally placed to create something quite special when he did. As a coach, he was incredibly dedicated to his athletes and wanted to produce a training shoe that would assist them over long distances while also preventing injury. He drew particular inspiration from one of his Oregon Ducks’ runners, Kenny Moore, who had suffered a foot injury while training in 1965. Bowerman took apart the shoes Moore had been wearing to find out the cause, concluding that the cushioning needed to be improved. He made some prototypes for Moore to test out, and his findings informed some important elements of the TG-24’s sole. As well as this, he looked at some of Onitsuka’s models, including the Spring Up and the Limber Up (a shoe that is still in production today), for further ideas, before constructing the sole unit that would make it such a popular choice among runners.

A new industry standard

After plenty of experimentation and various different prototypes, Bowerman perfected his innovative design. Directly beneath the upper, he placed a spongy layer of rubber that was supported by a full-length foam midsole. As well as offering additional padding under the ball of the foot for better shock absorption, it was elevated at the heel to reduce the chance of Achilles injuries. This set a new standard for the running shoe industry, while Bowerman’s focus on the needs of the athlete became Nike’s primary goal when the brand was established in the early 70s. On top of this supportive midsole, the shoe had a herringbone grip outsole that delivered excellent traction and an upper made from a strong but lightweight woven nylon referred to as ‘Swoosh Fiber’. This fabric resisted moisture and held its shape more effectively than many other materials of the time, thus allowing the TG-24 to perform better than its competitors.

Finding a name

When the TG-24 first came out in 1966, Bowerman and Knight ordered just 300 pairs to sell to athletes in the United States. The company was still in its early stages, and it was a struggle to regularly meet sales targets, so they were only able to bring in small amounts of stock. Thanks to its lightweight feel and durable support, the TG-24 proved to be a great success, and the demand increased, prompting Onitsuka to ask the owners of Blue Ribbon Sports to come up with a better name for the model. With the 1968 Olympics in Mexico just around the corner, they decided to call it the TG-Mexico as a way of connecting it with the global tournament. Versions of the shoe from this time were white with a blue and red Onitsuka logo and the word “Mexico” printed on the lateral side, but it wasn’t long before the Japanese brand requested another name change. Following the Mexican theme, Bowerman and Knight chose Aztec as its new moniker, in reference to the indigenous people who inhabited the area around modern day Mexico many centuries before. Unfortunately, adidas had its own line of Azteca racing spikes, so they objected to the idea, threatening legal action if Onitsuka kept the name. Once again, Bowerman and Knight had to go back to the drawing board. Frustrated, the pair picked a name which showed their bold, rebellious nature and sent a message to adidas, dubbing it the Cortez after the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, who was responsible for the fall of the Aztec empire in the early 1500s.

New beginnings

This time, the name stuck, and the success of the new Onitsuka Tiger Cortez saw Blue Ribbon Sports through the end of the 1960s. In fact, Phil Knight has since stated that the company’s good revenue in 1967 was largely a result of the model. It also helped to popularise Tiger shoes more widely in the United States and was the best selling shoe for both brands in 1968. However, despite the fruitful relationship between the two, tensions began to mount when Knight discovered that Onitsuka had been looking for other United States distributors. Blue Ribbon Sports was clearly not the priority anymore, and this affected the business’ bottom line as they could not keep up with demand, so Knight began to consider other options. In 1971, he and Bowerman co-founded Nike, with Knight taking charge of the business side of things and Bowerman working on the shoes. Knight asked graphic design student Carolyn Davidson, who he had met while working a second job at Portland State University, to design a logo for the newly established brand. Her brief was to convey motion and make something completely distinct from adidas’ three-stripes logo. From her many creations, Knight picked the now globally famous swoosh and quickly had a prototype Cortez made with his new emblem on the flanks instead of the Onitsuka wave.

An updated design

The Cortez became Nike’s first official silhouette when it was made available to athletes taking part in the track and field trials for the 1972 Olympics, which were being held in Eugene, Oregon, just a couple of hours drive from Nike’s headquarters. By this point, Bowerman had had time to update the model, making it even more effective as a performance running shoe. An anti-wear plug had been added to the heel to increase its durability and a new 4-way stretch sockliner made it more comfortable while also reducing the chance of blisters. A version with a wider toe was also produced to accommodate different types of feet, and the range was expanded to include buffed leather and suede options.

Going to court

Understandably, Onitsuka’s owners were not happy about Nike taking the Cortez and selling it with their own logo, so in 1971, they took Nike to court over the rights to the name and the model. During the three-year case, orthopaedic experts noted that Bowerman’s revolutionary design was distinct from any of Onitsuka’s other shoes in the way that it protected the Achilles from injury, and it was this that eventually saw a ruling permitting both brands to continue selling the silhouette. Crucially, Nike was given the sole right to use the Cortez name. Onitsuka, on the other hand, was forced to change, opting for the Corsair – a shoe which the company still produces today.

A sporting endorsement

Despite this lengthy court case, Nike remained undeterred throughout the early 70s, and Bowerman’s sporting connections helped make the Cortez a popular choice among athletes. The official release of the brand’s updated, swoosh-laden version came at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, where Bowerman was a track and field coach. One of his University of Oregon runners, the highly-popular Steve Prefontaine, was competing that year, and his use of the Nike Cortez helped to promote the shoe despite the fact that he finished agonisingly just outside the medal places in the 5,000m final. Following this disappointment, Prefontaine returned to training with renewed vigour, setting American records at a number of distances over the next three years. During this time, he acted as a brand ambassador and was the first athlete to get paid for wearing Nike shoes. His exuberant personality attracted attention at track and field events around the country, where he encouraged other athletes to try out the Cortez and other models. Several decades later, in 2017, Nike chose to honour his part in the history of the Cortez by creating a special Stop Pre colourway that referenced the T-shirts ironically worn by his fans at the Eugene Olympic trials and other events. Rarely did anyone manage to stop the legendary distance runner.

Inventive advertising

With Prefontaine on board and the court case with Onitsuka settled, the 70s was a great time for Nike and the Cortez. The shoe’s success allowed Bowerman the freedom to experiment with new designs, which in turn spurred further growth. Meanwhile, Knight was developing excellent marketing techniques and put out adverts showing off the shoe’s performance qualities while also revealing some of the story behind its design. One piece distributed at the National Sporting Goods Association show in June 1973 explained that “the “Cortez” was conceived as the supreme training shoe for the long distance runner”, describing it as “a new concept in distance training shoes.” Bowerman was lauded as the genius behind this groundbreaking design, and Onitsuka was completely omitted from the story, signalling his brand’s newfound independence and firmly establishing the Cortez as a Nike design.

The Farrah Shoe

From the beginning, the Cortez had been marketed as a long distance running shoe, but even in some of the earliest adverts it was described as “ideal for casual wear”. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until around the mid-70s that it took off as a lifestyle shoe. One event in particular caused it to transcend the sporting world: its appearance on the feet of Hollywood actress Farrah Fawcett. In a 1976 episode of the much-loved TV series Charlie’s Angels, she wore the Senorita Cortez – a version released in 1975 and aimed specifically at women – during a famous scene in which she escaped a criminal by riding away on a skateboard. The image of Fawcett crouched on the board in her pristine white sneakers with the bold red swoosh emblazoned on the side became iconic and thrust the Cortez into the limelight. It was such a powerful scene that by the end of the next day many stores had sold out of the shoe. Some fans began referring to it as the “Farrah Shoe”, and many California cheerleaders wore it during performances. Years later, American supermodel Bella Hadid paid homage to the moment by recreating the famous image for the 45th anniversary of the Cortez in 2017.

Transcending sport

In the 1980s, the Nike Cortez continued to be a popular running shoe, as attested to by pioneering women’s distance runner Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won a flurry of marathons between 1979 and 1985. During the silhouette’s 45th anniversary, she spoke of her admiration for the Cortez, stating that it had given her the support she needed to confidently push beyond her limits as a young athlete. However, while it helped those like Samuelson, it also moved beyond the realm of sport, making its presence felt in other areas of popular culture, such as music. On his 1980 world tour, Elton John, who had already received a custom Cortez design with the sole of the 1979 Nike Roadrunner, dedicated a song to Nike as he performed in a blue and white colourway. Meanwhile, East Coast b-boys favoured the Cortez for its lightweight build, which allowed them more freedom of movement while breakdancing, and on the West Coast it was developing a large following, particularly in Los Angeles, where many of Nike’s earliest stores were located. N.W.A. rapper Eazy-E became known for donning the silhouette in the late-80s, and his fans followed suit, calling it the Dope Man Nike after a 1987 track by the influential hip hop group. The Cortez soon became an important piece of attire in the gangsta rap scene, and it wasn’t long before West Coast gangs began to incorporate the shoe into their wardrobes as its minimalistic use of colour allowed people to show which group they belonged to. Despite these connotations, the Cortez continued to be a popular choice across the country into the 1990s, when it would get a more wholesome endorsement that took it on a global trajectory.

Going global

The 90s began with an iconic performance by Whitney Houston at Super Bowl XXV. While singing the national anthem, she wore a classic white Cortez with a striking red swoosh as part of her relaxed outfit choice. Just a few years after this, a memorable appearance in the 1994 movie Forrest Gump spread the Cortez name around the world. In the film, Tom Hanks’ character is gifted a pair of Cortez, which he holds up clearly in front of the camera before going on to wear them as he runs around the United States – the perfect advert for the heritage running shoe. The movie won several Academy Awards and was a global success, bringing the Cortez a remarkable boost over 20 years after its initial release. So significant was its presence in the film that the red, white and blue model worn by Hanks is now often referred to as the Forrest Gump colourway, and in 2024, a special retro release of the design was made to celebrate 30 years since the movie first came out. Alongside these important moments, the Cortez also found a home on TV screens around America in one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1990s, Seinfeld, in which character George Costanza could often be seen wearing the model. The man who played him, actor Jason Alexander, reportedly loved them so much that he asked if he could keep a pair as a reminder of his time on the series when it finished in 1998.

Celebrating Chicano culture

By the 2000s, the Cortez was one of Nike’s most recognisable silhouettes, and, as such, it began to be used in collaborations. One of the earliest was with Mexican-American tattoo artist Mark Machado, aka Mister Cartoon, whose artwork often references Los Angeles street life from his childhood. A big part of this was the fashion of the Chicano community, who are descended from the native Mexicans that lived in the region before the Europeans arrived. When he was growing up, Machado would often see respected Chicanos wearing the Nike Cortez, so he decided to honour this fact by replacing the swoosh on his first collaborative sneaker with the head of an Aztec warrior whose features looked somewhat European. In this way, rather than taking a negative view of the shoe’s name, the artist chose to represent the Chicano heritage as combining native people with influences from a foreign land and teach the history of his ancestors to a new generation. In the years since, Nike has also honoured the silhouette’s connection to Latino communities with editions like the Latino Heritage Month and the Dia de los Muertos.

An impressive milestone

Mister Cartoon’s first Nike Cortez really connected with the Los Angeles community, and in the 2010s, Nike continued to seek new collaborators for its oldest model. This led to a partnership with streetwear brand Undefeated in 2015 that produced a black and white colourway inspired by Los Angeles. On the 45th anniversary of the Cortez in 2017, Mister Cartoon created three more stylish designs, and Nike released tens of colourways both retro and new to mark the impressive milestone. These included a set of models referencing the injury to Kenny Moore that had inspired some of Bowerman’s design ideas, as well as classic editions in both nylon and leather, versions with embroidered and jewelled swooshes, a Flyknit model and two sneakers that sought to recognise the shoe’s connection to the city of Los Angeles by paying homage to Long Beach and Compton.

Distinctive designs

While the Cortez had never really gone away, this signified the beginning of a powerful resurgence, and 2018 brought a series of unforgettable collaborative sneakers with American rapper Kendrick Lamar, who had previously sung about the Cortez on the 2013 Big Sean track “Control”. Alongside these, Nike produced colourways with tennis player Maria Sharapova, multi-brand retailer Dover Street Market and high-end Japanese fashion label Comme des Garçons, who crafted several black-and-white Women’s models with towering platform soles. These were followed in 2019 by a popular Stranger Things collaboration, the show’s 1980s setting working perfectly with the silhouette’s retro vibes, and the intriguing Shoe Dog Pack, whose two Cortez designs featured early Nike logos the brand had considered using before eventually going with the iconic swoosh.

A sought-after fashion item

In the 2020s, new versions of the Nike Cortez continued to surface, and the shoe’s 50th anniversary was celebrated with a Union LA collaboration of four colourways each inspired by Los Angeles and two eccentric designs by innovative Japanese fashion label sacai. Having already been worn by Leonardo Di Caprio in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street, the Cortez appeared on the feet of Jeremy Allen White as he portrayed Carmen in the popular 2022 TV show The Bear, White later declaring that it was his favourite shoe. It could also be seen in fashion magazines such as Vogue, which noted that influencers Emily Ratajkowski and Alexa Chung were wearing it, as was actress Dakota Johnson, whose appearance in the suave Baroque Brown colourway made it a common choice in the summer of 2024.

A timeless classic

Looking back on the history of the Nike Cortez, it is quite remarkable to consider just how significant a silhouette it has been, not just for Nike, but for the whole footwear industry. During the course of over five decades, it has been the foundation for one of the biggest apparel brands in the world, set the industry standard for running shoe cushioning, supported superstar athletes to achieve great things, become an essential part of streetwear fashion, appeared in Hollywood movies and graced the feet of celebrities both on and off screen, ultimately establishing itself as a core piece of 20th and 21st century culture. Despite its age, the Cortez continues to be one of Nike’s flagship models and is one of the most recognisable sneaker designs in the world. According to Nike Chief Design Officer, John Hoke, it is the “quintessential expression” of the brand’s design philosophy, and, as such, it can be considered among its most important – a fact that has never been forgotten as the timeless shoe continues to make its mark on modern sneaker culture.