Nike “Cortez”
Since 1967, the year in which the young and emerging Nike (then still called Blue Ribbon Sports) created Cortez sneakers for Olympic athletes, these are among the most popular sneakers still today. In the cinema, they were able to affirm themselves in a very short time: Forrest Gump wore them in his epic races around the States, while the 80s kids of Stranger Things have brought them back into vogue to the present day. Designed with the collaboration of Onitsuka Tiger for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, the original name was supposed to be “Aztec” in homage to the host country, but Adidas already had its own “Azteca Gold” model; BRS / Nike thus decided for “Cortez”, with the inevitable reference to the conquistador Hernán Cortés who defeated the Aztecs (in this case, the enemy Adidas). Skyrocketing sales, and the first great success of the US brand.