You’ve seen the Swoosh. It’s everywhere. From the feet of elite marathoners in Berlin to the beat-up pairs of Pegasus at your local high school track. But if you think this multi-billion dollar empire began in a sleek glass boardroom in Beaverton, you’re looking in the wrong place. To understand where did nike start, you have to look at the back of a green Plymouth Valiant.
It started with a $500 loan and a handshake.
Phil Knight was a middle-distance runner at the University of Oregon. He wasn't the best on the team, but he was obsessed. His coach, Bill Bowerman, was even more obsessed. Bowerman was the kind of guy who would sneak into the training room to shave ounces off his runners' shoes because he believed lighter footwear meant faster times. He was a mad scientist in a tracksuit. This partnership is the literal DNA of the brand. In 1964, they formed Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS). They weren't even making shoes yet; they were just importing them from Japan.
The Oregon Connection: Where Did Nike Start and Why?
The company didn't just "appear" in a vacuum. It was born out of a specific frustration with German dominance. Back then, Adidas and Puma owned the market. Knight, who was finishing up an MBA at Stanford, wrote a paper proposing that high-quality, low-cost Japanese running shoes could do to the shoe industry what Japanese cameras had done to the German camera market. It was a "Crazy Idea," as he famously called it in his memoir Shoe Dog.
Knight traveled to Japan and cold-called Onitsuka Tiger (now ASICS). He told them he represented Blue Ribbon Sports—a company that basically didn't exist outside of his own head. He secured the distribution rights for the American West. When the first shipment of Tiger shoes arrived, Knight didn't have a storefront. He sold them out of his trunk at track meets. He literally drove from one stadium to another, talking to coaches and runners, selling the vision as much as the rubber.
It was grassroots. It was gritty. It was honestly kind of a mess.
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The Waffle Iron Moment
While Knight handled the "business" side—which mostly involved frantic calls to banks to cover his growing credit lines—Bowerman was the R&D department. This is where the story gets legendary. In 1971, Bowerman was eating breakfast with his wife, Barbara, and looking at her waffle iron. He wondered if the pattern of the iron would provide better grip on the new artificial tracks being installed across the country.
He didn't just think about it. He took some liquid urethane, poured it into the iron, and ruined it. But he also created the "Waffle Sole." This was the first major technical innovation that separated BRS from being just another importer. They were becoming creators.
The Breakup and the Birth of the Swoosh
By the early 70s, the relationship with Onitsuka Tiger was falling apart. The Japanese company wanted to buy out BRS or find a bigger distributor. Knight knew he had to go solo. He needed a new name and a new logo, fast.
He almost called the company "Dimension Six." Seriously. It was a terrible name. Luckily, Jeff Johnson, BRS’s first full-time employee, had a dream. He saw the word "Nike"—the Greek goddess of victory. It clicked. Sorta. Knight didn't even love it at first; he just ran out of time.
Then there was the logo. Knight went to Portland State University and found a graphic design student named Carolyn Davidson. He asked her for a design that suggested motion. She came up with the Swoosh. Knight paid her $35. He told her, "I don't love it, but maybe it will grow on me."
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The 1972 Debut
Nike officially launched at the 1972 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. This is the definitive answer to where did nike start as a brand, rather than just a business entity. They handed out the new Nike shoes to athletes, and the rest is history. The shoes were called "Moon Shoes" because the waffle tread looked like the footprints left on the moon by astronauts.
It wasn’t an overnight success. There were massive lawsuits with Onitsuka. There were constant cash flow crises. Knight spent the first decade of the company's life convinced they were going bankrupt every single day.
Moving Beyond Oregon
While the heart of Nike is in the Pacific Northwest, the brand’s global explosion happened because they understood culture better than anyone else. They didn't just sell shoes; they sold the "spirit of sport."
- The Steve Prefontaine Era: "Pre" was Bowerman’s prize pupil and the first true Nike athlete. He was a rebel with a mustache who ran every race like his life depended on it. He gave Nike its "anti-establishment" edge.
- The Air Revolution: In 1977, an aerospace engineer named Frank Rudy brought an idea to Nike: putting air bags in shoes. Adidas had already turned him down. Nike took the gamble. The Tailwind was born, and with it, Nike Air.
- The Jordan Pivot: By the early 80s, Nike was actually struggling. They had missed the aerobics craze that Reebok nailed. Then, in 1984, they signed a rookie from North Carolina named Michael Jordan. They didn't just give him a shoe; they gave him a brand. The Air Jordan 1 was actually banned by the NBA for violating "uniformity of outfit" rules, which was the best marketing Nike could have ever asked for.
Why the Origins Still Matter Today
The reason Nike still dominates is that they never lost the "Bowerman mindset." They still act like a tech company that happens to make clothes. They are constantly tinkering.
If you look at the "Vaporfly" shoes that have recently revolutionized marathon running, you can see the direct lineage from that ruined waffle iron in a suburban Oregon kitchen. It's the same obsession with "what if we made it lighter?" and "what if we made it faster?"
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A lot of people think Nike started in a lab. It didn't. It started in a garage, fueled by a coach who wanted his runners to win and a runner who wanted to prove his "Crazy Idea" wasn't so crazy after all. They didn't have a marketing budget. They had a trunk full of shoes and a lot of caffeine.
Actionable Takeaways from Nike’s Beginning
If you are looking to build something of your own, there are a few real-world lessons from the Nike origin story that still apply:
- Solve your own problem: Bowerman didn't want to start a multi-billion dollar company; he just wanted his runners to stop getting blisters. Start with a practical solution to a specific pain point.
- The "Trunk" Phase is necessary: You don't need a fancy office or a perfect website to start. You need a product and a way to get it in front of people. Nike stayed in the "selling out of the trunk" phase for years before they opened their first store in Santa Monica.
- Embrace the "Pivot": They started as Blue Ribbon Sports. If they had stayed an importer for Onitsuka, they would be a footnote in history. They weren't afraid to burn the bridge and build their own brand when the time was right.
- Find your "Waffle Iron": Look for inspiration in mundane places. Innovation rarely happens when you are staring at a blank screen; it happens when you are looking at how things work in the real world.
The story of where Nike started is ultimately a story of endurance. It took twenty years for them to become a household name. It took thousands of miles on the road and a lot of ruined breakfast appliances. But that foundation in Oregon track and field is what gives the brand its soul even fifty years later.
To learn more about the specific evolution of Nike's technology, you can look into the archives of the Bowerman Track Club or read Phil Knight’s autobiography, Shoe Dog, which provides a granular, unvarnished look at the early days of the company. If you're ever in Eugene, Oregon, a visit to Hayward Field is a must—it’s the hallowed ground where the first Swooshes actually hit the dirt.
Next Steps for Your Research:
- Research the legal battle between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger (1972-1974) to understand the trademarking of the Swoosh.
- Look into the design history of the Nike Cortez, the first track shoe designed by Bowerman that became a lifestyle icon.
- Check out the Nike Oregon Project archives for details on how the coaching philosophy of Bill Bowerman influenced modern athletic training.