Nike Reinvents
a Classic
Over the Years
1972
Designed by Olympic track coach, Bill Bowerman, and introduced as Nike's first official track shoe during the Olympics in Munich.
1977
The shoes surge in popularity. Farrah Fawcett sports a pair in a skateboarding magazine.
1994
Forrest Gump is released, where the shoes are worn on a cross-country run.
2009
The Nike Cortez Fly Motion is introduced, which features thinner, finer fibers bound together in the mid-sole.
2012
To celebrate the shoe's 40th anniversary, Nike reissued the sneakers in a range of bold colors.
Nike is one of sportswear's most forward-thinking brands, but they also have a wealth of great footwear designs in the company vault. And we're happy to see they're going in there to revitalize some of the brand's longstanding winners. The latest reintroduction? The Nike Roshe LD-1000, which is a 2015 update on the famous Cortez sneaker of the 1970s—the one that's said to have launched the Nike we know today. And there's never been a better time to improve upon such an iconic shoe. Gone is the heavy rubber sole, replaced with a lightweight lug sole with deep forefoot flex grooves for a more natural range of motion. Instead of thick leathers or nylon, the uppers are crafted from a breezy mesh while the Ortholite sockliner provides cushioning and support. It's all the heritage and style with modern benefits.