Nike Nostalgia
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WWD asked designers, industry executives and athletes the following question: What was your first pair of Nikes and why did you buy them?
John Elliott, designer:
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“My first Nike was a pair of Cortez running shoes as a baby; my parents hooked me up at an early age. The first pair I bought was a pair of Bo Jackson trainers in the third grade — they were white and orange during the campaign when Bo had the shoulder pads with the baseball bat. I had that poster in my room and found him to be a fascinating character.”
Travis Kelce, tight end, Kansas City Chiefs:
“As a kid growing up, one of my favorite movies was ‘Back to the Future.’ I loved how Michael J. Fox’s character, Marty McFly, had the self-lacing shoes. When the Nike Air Mags came out, I knew I had to have them — but I had no money at the time. It wasn’t until the Chiefs drafted me in 2013 and I got my first check that I was able to source a brand-new pair, size 14. I had them on display in my apartment until I had the right moment to take them outside. I finally wore them on my very first Monday Night Football game. I still have them to this day.”
Victor Cruz, former New York Giants wide receiver:
“From a young age, my mom knew to put me in the right footwear, as she made sure her son stayed in the latest threads. She opted for the traditional white and red Nike Cortez for my very first Nike sneaker. I remember wanting to keep them clean at all cost, even at that young age, and I still carry that tradition until this day.”
Massimo Giorgetti, founder, MSGM:
“The Nike leather Blue Swoosh sneakers are my favorite. I was 10 or 11 when I bought them in a store in central Rimini. I was obsessed with them and I still think they are one of the best pairs of Nike shoes.”
Reese Cooper, designer:
“For school in London, I had to wear black leather shoes for the uniform. Everyone wore dress shoes, so the first Nikes I ever purchased myself was at 13 when I got black AF1’s for my school shoe. They hated it, but I wasn’t breaking any rules technically.”
John Donahoe, CEO, Nike Inc.:
“In 1977, I was a senior in high school. It was the first year the Blazer came out. I went to a big high school in Chicago and wore Converse but that was the first year Nike basketball shoes were widely available. I had Phil Knight in here one day and I said, ‘You never signed me.’ And without missing a beat, he said, ‘You know, we got Jordan, but we missed Bird, we missed Magic. And we missed you.’”
Craig Williams, president, Jordan Brand:
“A white pair of Air Jordan 1s when I was in my first year of college. And why did I love them? Because I was absolutely convinced that I could run faster, jump higher and do all the things that Michael Jordan on the Bulls could do. Now, as you can imagine, a pair of white shoes, playing basketball on cement courts in St. Louis, Mo., where I grew up, didn’t last long. But every day, I had Jordan in mind.”
Heidi O’Neill, president, consumer and marketplace, Nike Inc.:
“I’m going to flip it to a different memorable Nike buy. It was about 26 years ago when I was in advertising and I was in San Francisco at the Bay Club. I had just worked out and I had my workout bra in my hand. And it was Nike. I looked at that bra and on it it said, ‘Made to the exact specifications of championship athletes.’ And I thought, they are so clear on who they are and what they believe that they’re willing to stamp it on product. That kind of jolted me. That kind of respect for product holds so strong for me and always will. And that bra is my symbol.”
John Hoke, chief design officer, Nike Inc.:
“A pair of waffle training shoes — no exaggeration, that was the item that changed the course of my life. I played all sports in them and when I graduated [from college], I kept them on my mantle forever. When we opened up Niketown in New York, I ceremoniously threw them over the rafters.”
Andy Campion, chief operating officer, Nike Inc.:
“I have three that were pretty close in time: one was an Air Trainer 1 Bo Jackson shoe. I loved them and got a pair when they were rereleased out of nostalgia. The second, oddly, was the Zoom Veer. Deion Sanders wore it and it was a cross-training shoe. But the one I remember best was the Air Jordan 7. We didn’t have much money when I was a kid and I loved basketball and was a huge Magic Johnson and Lakers fan. We would go to Big Five and get whatever was there was at the right price. But when I was in college, I bought the Air Jordan 7s. I wore them to play basketball and left them on the doorstep on my second-floor apartment to dry out. And the next time I looked, they were gone, and I thought, these shoes are so hot that people would take my scuffed-up, sweaty pair. And that kind of flipped me into a Jordan fan.”
Scott Uzzell, president and chief executive officer, Converse:
“They were probably a pair of Air Force 1s in the ’70s, when I was a little kid. I remember my mother buying new pairs of both Converse and Nike when I was a kid, specifically in the summertime. That wasn’t the pair of shoes I was going to play in the yard all day. Those were the ones, [I would wear] wherever I was going to go special with the family. The shoes that I wore all school year were the ones I would run around and play in the backyard in. [But the AF1s] were super special. This was pre-collabs and all the stuff that we have now. I made sure I wanted to take care of those.”
Jeremy Scott, designer:
“I’m an Adidas person.”
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