2. NIKE IS AN AMERICAN MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATION THAT IS ENGAGED IN THE DESIGN,
DEVELOPMENT, MANUFACTURING, AND
WORLDWIDE MARKETING AND SALES OF
FOOTWEAR, APPAREL, EQUIPMENT, ACCESSORIES,
AND SERVICES. THE COMPANY IS
HEADQUARTERED NEAR BEAVERTON, OREGON, IN
THE PORTLAND METROPOLITAN AREA. IT IS THE
WORLD'S LARGEST SUPPLIER OF ATHLETIC
SHOES AND APPARELAND A MAJOR
MANUFACTURER OF SPORTS EQUIPMENT.
3. THE COMPANY WAS FOUNDED ON JANUARY 25, 1964, AS BLUE
RIBBON SPORTS, BY BILL BOWER MAN AND PHIL KNIGHT, AND
OFFICIALLY BECAME NIKE, INC. ON MAY 30, 1971. THE COMPANY
TAKES ITS NAME FROM NIKE, THE GREEK GODDESS OF VICTORY.
NIKE MARKETS ITS PRODUCTS UNDER ITS OWN BRAND, AS WELL AS
NIKE GOLF, NIKE PRO, NIKE+, AIR JORDAN, NIKE BLAZERS, AIR
FORCE 1, NIKE DUNK, AIR MAX, FOAM POSITED, NIKE
SKATEBOARDING, AND SUBSIDIARIES INCLUDING BRAND
JORDAN, HURLEY INTERNATIONAL AND CONVERSE. NIKE ALSO
OWNED BAUER HOCKEY (LATER RENAMED NIKE BAUER) BETWEEN
1995 AND 2008, AND PREVIOUSLY OWNED COLE HAN AND UMBRA. IN
ADDITION TO MANUFACTURING SPORTSWEAR AND EQUIPMENT,
THE COMPANY OPERATES RETAIL STORES UNDER THE NIKE TOWN
NAME. NIKE SPONSORS MANY HIGH-PROFILE ATHLETES AND
SPORTS TEAMS AROUND THE WORLD, WITH THE HIGHLY
RECOGNIZED TRADEMARKS OF "JUST DO IT" AND
THE SWOOSH LOGO.
4. NIKE, ORIGINALLY KNOWN AS BLUE RIBBON
SPORTS (BRS), WAS FOUNDED BY UNIVERSITY OF
OREGON TRACK ATHLETE PHIL KNIGHT AND HIS
COACH BILL BOWER MAN IN JANUARY 1964. THE
COMPANY INITIALLY OPERATED AS A DISTRIBUTOR
FOR JAPANESE SHOE MAKER ONITSUKA TIGER
(NOW ASICS), MAKING MOST SALES AT TRACK
MEETS OUT OF KNIGHT'S AUTOMOBILE.
ACCORDING TO OTIS DAVIS, A STUDENT ATHLETE
WHOM BOWER MAN COACHED AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF OREGON, WHO LATER WENT ON TO WIN TWO
GOLD MEDALS AT THE 1960 SUMMER OLYMPICS,
BOWER MAN MADE THE FIRST PAIR OF NIKE
SHOES FOR HIM, CONTRADICTING A CLAIM THAT
THEY WERE MADE FOR PHIL KNIGHT.
ORIGIN AND HISTORY
5. SPORTS EQUIPMENT
NIKE PRODUCES A WIDE RANGE OF SPORTS EQUIPMENT. THEIR FIRST
PRODUCTS WERE TRACK RUNNING SHOES. THEY CURRENTLY ALSO
MAKE SHOES, JERSEYS, SHORTS, CLEATS, BASE LAYERS, ETC. FOR A
WIDE RANGE OF SPORTS, INCLUDING TRACK AND FIELD,
BASEBALL, ICE HOCKEY, TENNIS, ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL
(SOCCER), LACROSSE, BASKETBALL, AND CRICKET. NIKE AIR MAX IS A
LINE OF SHOES FIRST RELEASED BY NIKE, INC. IN 1987. NIKE HAS
RECENTLY INTRODUCED CRICKET SHOES CALLED AIR ZOOM YORKER,
DESIGNED TO BE 30% LIGHTER THAN THEIR COMPETITORS'.IN2008,
NIKE INTRODUCED THE AIR JORDAN XX3, A HIGH-PERFORMANCE
BASKETBALL SHOE DESIGNED WITH THE ENVIRONMENT IN MIND.
IN 2004, NIKE LAUNCHED THE SPARQ TRAINING PROGRAM. SOME OF
NIKE'S NEWEST SHOES CONTAIN FLY WIRE AND LINARITE FOAM TO
REDUCE WEIGHT. THE AIR ZOOM ROMERO RUNNING SHOE,
INTRODUCED IN 2006 AND CURRENTLY IN ITS 11TH GENERATION,
FEATURED A COMBINATION OF GROUNDBREAKING INNOVATIONS
INCLUDING A FULL-LENGTH AIR CUSHIONED SOLE, AN EXTERNAL
HEEL COUNTER, A CRASH PAD IN THE HEEL FOR SHOCK ABSORPTION,
AND FIT FRAME TECHNOLOGY FOR A STABLE FIT.
PRODUCTS
6. SPORTS SHOES
A Nike brand athletic shoeA PAIR OF NIKE AIR JORDAN
L BASKET BALL SHOES
7. BEGINNING IN THE 1980S, VARIOUS ITEMS OF NIKE CLOTHING
BECAME STAPLES OF MAINSTREAM AMERICAN YOUTH FASHION,
ESPECIALLY TRACKSUITS, SHELL SUITS, BASEBALL CAPS, AIR
JORDAN'S, AND AIR MAX RUNNING SHOES WITH THICK, AIR
CUSHIONED RUBBER SOLES AND CONTRASTING BLUE, YELLOW,
GREEN, WHITE, OR RED TRIM. LIMITED EDITION SNEAKERS AND
PROTOTYPES WITH A REGIONAL EARLY RELEASE WERE KNOWN
AS QUICKSTRIKES,AND BECAME HIGHLY DESIRABLE ITEMS FOR
TEENAGE MEMBERS OF THE SNEAKER HEAD SUBCULTURE.
BY THE 1990S AND 2000S, AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN
TEENAGERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PREPPY OR POPULAR
CLIQUE BEGAN COMBINING THESE SNEAKERS, LEGGINGS,
SWEATPANTS, CROP TOPS, AND TRACKSUITS WITH
REGULAR CASUAL CHIC STREET CLOTHES SUCH AS JEANS,
SKIRTS, LEG WARMERS, SLOUCH SOCKS, AND BOMBER JACKETS.
STREET FASHION
8. FROM THE LATE 2000S INTO THE 2010S, NIKE
ELITE BASKETBALL SOCKS BEGAN TO BE WORN AS
EVERYDAY CLOTHES BY HIP-HOP FANS AND YOUNG
CHILDREN. ORIGINALLY PLAIN WHITE OR BLACK,
THESE SOCKS HAD SPECIAL SHOCK ABSORBING
CUSHIONING IN THE SOLE PLUS A MOISTURE
WICKING UPPER WEAVE
IN 2015, A NEW SELF-LACING SHOE WAS
INTRODUCED. CALLED THE NIKE MAGI, WHICH
ARE REPLICAS OF THE SHOES FEATURED IN BACK
TO THE FUTURE PART II, IT HAD A PRELIMINARY
LIMITED RELEASE, ONLY AVAILABLE BY AUCTION
WITH ALL PROCEEDS GOING TO THE MICHAEL J.
FOX FOUNDATION. THIS WAS DONE AGAIN IN 2016.
NIKE HAVE INTRODUCED A PREMIUM LINE,
FOCUSED MORE ON STREET WEAR THAN SPORTS
WEAR CALLED NIKE LAB