Icon in Motion

In 1972, the first pair of Nike Cortez shoes softly hit the pavement.

With its foam midsole, flexible body and a high-gripping rubber outsole, the Cortez dismantled the expectations of a running shoe. The product of a legendary track coach’s obsession, a young Stanford grad’s business savvy and cutting-edge technology, the Nike Cortez came to serve as the inspiration for all Nike Sportswear footwear and apparel.

It was University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman who designed the Cortez as the first lightweight running shoe to incorporate heel cushioning and flexibility. He, along with visionary business partner Phil Knight, sent Nike hurtling into the future of footwear.

The Cortez not only helped ignite the running movement, it fueled a technological explosion within the industry. Within a few years, the market was flooded with similar running shoes. And as Nike evolved newer technologies, the Nike Cortez became a cultural icon that survives today.

During the 1980s, as the Latin youth of Los Angeles forged a new street culture, they took to the Nike Cortez, an American product with a Latin name. Virtually overnight, the Nike Cortez became part of the uniform for those from the hoods of LA And helped define a style for an entire culture.Today, what was originally created as an innovative training shoe by a track coach in Oregon has been adopted as an identity piece for the youth of Southern California, from its street artists to its athletes. The Nike Cortez stands as a symbol of Nike itself: Revolutionary. Inspired by sport. Technologically advanced. Absorbed by culture.

Now it’s available in a special reissue as The Nike Cortez Fly Motion SI. Its flywire technology using high-strength threads and laser-cut deep-flex grooves make it a remastered version of a Nike classic.A reminder of what happens when the mold is broken.