Which pair comes first: Nike Cortez or Onitsuka Tiger Corsair?

Cortez

Not many sneakers can “clap the chest” boasting of the famous “lineage” as the Onitsuka Tiger Corsair version. If you are thinking and envisioning a line of Nike shoes that looks suspiciously similar, then you are right.

A little bit more version Onitsuka Tiger Corsair Classic, this was the line of jogging shoes that were symbolic of the early 1970s. Back in the past, the shoe was unmatched in terms of a smooth, elastic sole and a feeling of support in the running. It was even so famous that even a big brand later “learned” and produced a pair of running shoes that were strangely similar in design. Read on to the thrilling story below.

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Onitsuka Tiger

Officially released for the 1969 Mexico Games Olympic season, the man behind this classic design is none other than Bill Bowerman, the legendary running coach from Oregon, USA. Before that, Bowerman invested in a small company in Beaverton, USA called Blue Ribbon Sports whose owner was his former student, legendary Phil Knight. The Onitsuka Tiger running shoes immediately sold extremely well and so the Blue Ribbon naturally copyrighted the most advanced line of shoes of the time.

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As a technical consultant, Bowerman produced a new model running shoe with the outstanding features and details of earlier Tiger lines. Onitsuka Tiger Company was very interested in this new idea and immediately went into production.

After production is complete, the only thing missing is a cool, easy-to-remember, easy-to-read name for this brand new version. Initially, the name was chosen as “Aztec” in honor of the host country Mexico, but adidas has released Azteca Gold before. Facing the risk of being sued, the shoe’s name was eventually changed to “Cortez”. Bowerman explains that ‘That Spaniard who kicked the shit out of the Aztecs!’ (roughly translated: It was Cortez who defeated the Aztecs! “.

Immediately to be the best on the market, the Cortez shoe was ahead of its time with the best all-in-one, foot-supporting sole of its time. In addition, the heel is also equipped with a slight rise to provide elastic support for the heel when landing.

Nike Cortez is quietly born

For a time of success, the “love” of Onitsuka and Blue Ribbon Sports also broke down. But the interesting story is that while distributing Tiger shoes, Phil and Bill also developed another shoe brand with the name … Nike. Not letting the Japanese company Onitsuka Tiger know about this, the two silently conceptualized, designed and manufactured shoe lines. Nike Cortez its own, with almost similar styling, differing only in Swoosh logo details, instead of the stripes of the familiar at first.

Not many sneakers are as thrilling as these two. The two companies later went to court, but the final ruling was that both brands were allowed to sell their own Cortez shoes. Nike kept the name Nike Cortez, but the Japanese company had to change its name to “Corsair”.

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So far, the two are still the only two very similar versions of the shoe ever that became the best-selling shoe for two different companies!

Source: Sneaker Freaker

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