Tiger Cortez

Tiger Cortez

The Far Eastern athletic manufacturer, which was unknown in Europe and the U.S. seemed to have listened and respected the opinion of one of America’s best track and field coach. In the late 1960‘s Bill Bowerman was no longer a mere agent for the Onitsuka Tiger Shoes. Bowerman provided his know-hows and greatly contributed to Onitsuka’s development of running shoes. There were numerous Onitsuka shoes that were produced from his ideas, but the most well-known is the Cortez.

Cortez was an outstanding training shoe. The focus was places on its cushioning. Up until then , European running shoes, which consisted the majority of the market had hard soles with insufficient cushioning. Because European running courses were not paved and the road surfaces were soft, not much emphasis was placed on cushioning. However in the U.S., many people ran on asphalt-surfaced roads, so Bowerman thought that shoes with softer soles were necessary to protect the athletes.

Cortez is equipped with a full length midsole form heel to toe. In addition, the heel section has one more layer that consists of a soft material, which results in a three layer structure. This training shoe with excellent cushioning immediately became a favorite among runners and succeeded in spreading Onitsuka and BRS’s names all over North America. However, their relationship soured and Onitsuka lost its right to use the shoe name through a court trial. Later on, their product name was changed to Corsair but the “other Cortez” is still the main product of O

nitsuka Tiger Shoes and its name never disappeared from their catalog