Cortez Basic Nylon

Cortez Basic Nylon

During the 1960’s, athletic shoes were usually made from leather or cotton canvas. Bill Bowerman changed such preconceptions. He proposes Onitsuka to produce shoes with nylon uppers that excel in lightness, breathability and flexibility. Based on his idea, Onitsuka made a flexible three-layered nylon upper with polyurethane foam sandwiched in between the top and bottom layers. And thus, the world’s first nylon athletic shoe was born. The model of this shoe was not
Cortez but after the launch of the Nike brand, this
comfortable upper were utilized in Cortez models,
which later became the company’s major product.

But at that time nylon running shoes hardly gained popularity among the general public. Some thought that the flexibility borne by nylon lacked stability. Another reason was that water seeped through the shoe during bad weather and the feet got drenched. To counter these disadvantages, Nike launches a light-weight leather version named Super Cortez. However the trend started to pick up. Super Cortez only came to be sold minimally and the majority of running shoes shifted to those made with nylon uppers.

Early nylon Nike shoes were limited to white swoosh designs on a light blue base. But starting around 1974, the base color changed into navy from light blue and resulted in different colorings between the early versions and latter versions of Nylon Cortez. Disregarding the latest trend, an obviously old-fashioned Achilles tendon strain was attached to the latter-day Nylon Cortez.

1975 was a turning point in Nike’s early days. The legal battle between Nike and Onitsuka that started in 1973 saw a tentative conclusion. It was decided that Nike could keep on using the current model names and Cortez became Nike’s original model. And the woven name on the shoe tongue was adorned with a “registered” sign to show that Nike was officially a registered trademark.

The Cortez series released as a 1975 model was transformed into a smarter silhouette. It was the birth of the second generation Cortez. The new Cortez was clearly more stylish than the ancient unrefined first generation Cortez. At this stage the Cortez’s standard design was established.

Other than the standard base color such as navy, Special Nylon Cortez was released, too. The special version adopted school colors of six major universities famous for varsity sports. We can say that these ideas were realized because Nike was an American brand. People wore Cortez to support their home teams. Cheerleaders wore them during their performance. Every enthusiast contributed in promoting the new Cortez voluntarily.

Obviously old-fashioned Achilles tendon strain was attached to the latter-day Nylon Cortez.