Nike brand: history of one of the most famous brands in the world

Who founded Nike and how the logo of the brand that made history was born

Nike is a globally recognized footwear and apparel brand with a turnover of over $ 37 billion and has outlets and retailers in every corner of the planet. In addition to footwear , clothing and sports accessories that make up the brand's flagship line, the company also sells clothing dedicated to lifestyle and products related to technology and the world of sport in general.

Often in Italy and in other countries, the name of this brand is pronounced incorrectly. The correct pronunciation is not “ Naik ”, but “ Naiki Which is in fact used in official advertisements and has been confirmed by former CEO and founder Phil Knight. 

The founder of Nike: the idea of ​​Phil Knight and the birth of the brand

Creating a successful brand is not a walk in the park, but it is often enough to be persevering in your dreams, projects and goals and follow a simple feeling or intuition to achieve truly unexpected successes. That's what happened to the founder of the Nike jordan 1 travis scott brand , Phil Knight.

Philip Hampson Knight was born in Portland, Oregon. After graduating in accounting from the University of Oregon, in the early 1960s he embarked on a journey around the world, which between the various stages, led him to stop in Kobe, Japan. Lover of sports and running since he was a boy, once he arrived in the Japanese city, he discovered the Tiger running shoes , at the time produced by Onitsuka Co Ltd, nowadays Asicsand he immediately noticed that it was a very high quality product that was sold at a very low price.

Having noticed the surge in requests for Japanese products in America, he asked to be able to meet the owner of the brand, who at the end of the fruitful interview granted him the rights to distribute the brand in the United States. Philip Knight went into business with his sports coach Bill Bowerman and on January 25, 1964 together with his partner founded Blue Ribbon Sports , a company that marketed sports shoes produced by the Japanese brand in the USA.

Sales of the Onitsuka product were an unprecedented success, but in 1971Philip and Bill decided to create their own brand and change their company name to Nike, Inc ..

What does Nike mean?

The name of the brand was inspired by the goddess Nike (in ancient Greek: Nίκη), the Greek divinity of Victory , celebrated in ancient times on the occasion of the Olympic Games and during sports and athletics competitions. Tradition depicts her as a winged female figure , and it is precisely by drawing inspiration from the wings of the goddess that the idea of ​​the Nike "mustache", as we Italians call it, was born. In reality, the brand logo is called Swoosh , an onomatopoeia which in English indicates the speed and the rustle of the wind.

The logo, in the mind of its creator Carolyn Davidson, represented a stylization of the goddess's wings combined with the idea of ​​speed and movement. It's funny to think that Carolyn, who was just a cash-strapped young art student at the time, made the logo for just $ 35 less than a day's work. In 1972 the first shoe with the Swoosh

that we all know was launched on the market and it was a real success. Today the Nike logo is perhaps one of the best known in the world, it does not need slogans and pay offs to be recognized and is able to evoke sensations and concepts that go beyond the simple identity of the brand .

The consolidation of the brand and the success of Nike

To make Nike a real cultural phenomenon were the numerous sponsorship campaigns together with well- known faces in the world of sport who helped to create a solid and innovative idea of ​​the brand. One of Nike's first faces was tennis player John Mc Enroe , nicknamed The Genius and still considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. In 1979 the Nike - Air

system was patented , an innovative solution that uses pressurized air to offer lightness and cushioning to those who wear sports shoes and in everyday life. It is thanks to this patent that a type of shoe was born that revolutionized the world of footware : the Air Max model.

After partnering with NBA star Michael Jordan and the release of the Air Jordans in 1985, the company hit one billion in revenue and became the largest sportswear manufacturer in the US.

Associating famous athletes with the brand helped jordan 1 travis scott Nike to offer the public a new sporty and fashionable way of dressing , but the ultimate goal was above all to push towards determination, to instill in the minds of buyers a new concept of self-made man , a sort of self-motivation aimed at personal growth in life and in the care of one's body through physical activity.

The concept was concretized by the advertising slogan "Just Do It ", born in 1988 , which led the brand to achieve global success in the 90s.

Today the Nike brand represents a multinational company that has over 60,000 employees all over the world and it is possible to find a reseller of the brand in almost all cities in the world. In Nico storesand on Nico.it for example, you can buy shoes and clothing of this brand for women , men and children .