Nike

Nike began in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports, a small Oregon importer of Onitsuka Tiger running shoes founded by University of Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and his former runner Phil Knight. The two had a thesis — that purpose-built American athletic footwear could beat the German brands then dominating track — and tested it across a decade of distance running and tinkering. In 1971 they cut ties with Onitsuka, commissioned the Swoosh from design student Carolyn Davidson for $35, and rebranded as Nike, named for the Greek goddess of victory. The shoes followed quickly: the waffle-soled Cortez (1972), the Air-cushioned Tailwind (1979), the Air Force 1 (1982), and a marketing pivot built around Michael Jordan (1985) that effectively invented the modern sneaker as cultural object. By the 1990s Nike had passed Adidas to become the world's largest sportswear company; by the 2020s it had built one of the most-collaborated-with footwear platforms in fashion through long partnerships with Off-White, Travis Scott, Sacai, Comme des Garçons, and dozens more. Nike's particular genius is that it has stayed simultaneously a serious performance company (Vaporfly, ZoomX, Alphafly distance shoes) and an aesthetic engine (Dunk, Air Force 1, AJ1) that the rest of culture quotes back at it. Few brands have rebuilt themselves so many times without losing the original Bowerman commitment to athletes.