
Nike
At Footworld

Before the Swoosh, before Nike, there were two visionary men who pioneered a revolution in athletic footwear that redefined the industry. Bill Bowerman a track and field coach at the University of Oregon was always looking for a way to give his athletes a competitive edge. He met Phil Knight who was a talented middle-distance runner from Portland, who enrolled at Oregon in the fall of 1955 and competed for Bowerman’s track program. After graduationg in Finance Phil became a distributor for Tiger shoes from Japan, sending a sample to Bowerman hoping to get a sale. Much to Knight’s suprise Bowerman stunned him by offering to become his partner, and to provide his footwear design ideas to Tiger.































