Who is Kihachiro Onitsuka? Onitsuka was a military veteran who eventually decided to venture into the shoe business. He began making footwear for top athletes under the business name "Onitsuka Co." This company started small with just a handful of employees and initially sought to produce basketball shoes. Few shoes have created such a seismic shift in the sneaker business. A court later decreed that both Onitsuka and Nike could sell the Cortez model. Nike retained the shoe’s original name, while Tiger dubbed their version the ‘Corsair’. Takahashi, a Japanese long-distance runner, wore ASICS Marathon SORTIE JAPAN to win a gold medal in the international women's marathon. 2. Stefano Baldini and Muzuki Noguchi, 2004.

ASICS partnered with Serbian tennis professional, Novak Djokovic to launch an exclusive new tennis shoe, the Court FF NOVAK. The passing of Kihachiro Onitsuka, 2007. ASICS grew from a two-person team to one of the world’s most influential sports brands. ASICS was built on the idea of “Anima sana in corpore sano,” a Latin phrase which translates to "a sound mind in a sound body". This philosophy became a legacy that remains an essential part of the brand to this day. Finally, in 1974, the court case between Nike and Onitsuka Tiger was passed in favour of Nike, allowing them to continue with the ‘Cortez’ name, but ruling that both brands were still able to create a product with the same silhouette. As such, Tiger changed the name of their variant to “Tiger Corsair” which is still available today. Fast forward to 1994, Nike is continuing to dominate the sneaker market. It also saw the release of one of, if not the, biggest sneaker moments in history. The film ‘Forrest Gump’ starring Tom Hanks saw a scene in which the main character, Forrest, is given a pair of the classic Nike’s by his love interest, Jennie. The scene is perfect product placement and sees Forrest going onto run across the United States wearing the sneaker, further advertising the running benefits they still held.While Nike hasn't made as much of a point of celebrating the anniversary of its oldest silhouette, other brands that are collaborating with Nike are set to release projects that are worth taking note of. Italian international men's gold medalist Stefano Baldini and Japanese international women’s marathon gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi wore ASICS' marathon shoes. 3. Saori Yoshida, 2012. The following year, at the Chicago Sporting Goods Association, Nike officially released three silhouettes to launch their new brand. The three silhouettes included the Marathon, Boston and the Cortez. At this time, Nike then released an advert for the Nike Cortez that included what they called ‘The Cortez Story’, which completely cut any mention of their previous partnership with Onitsuka Tiger. It was also here, that Nike released the first leather version of the Nike Cortez. While 2018 saw two further colourways of the Lamar x Cortez amongst a myriad of additional colourways and collaborations, including Stranger Things in 2019, the sneaker once again began to wain in mainstream popularity. This product was worn in various professional sporting events, thus paving the way for Onitsuka to build a global sporting empire. Are ASICS and Onitsuka the same company?

Before the case was over, Bowerman had created the Nike Cortez by switching out the Onitsuka ‘Waves’ inspired by the waves on the Kobe shores, to the iconic Nike ‘Swoosh’ which was designed by Carolyn Davidson, inspired by the shape of a running motion, with the brand selling it under their own name in 1972. Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club who won a championship in the 2019 season. Their home, away, third and goalkeeper shirts are all being designed and made by ASICS. 5. Novac Djokovic, 2019. Countless colourways and iterations of the Cortez have been released over the years, including a magnitude of colourways and materials as well as other combinations similar to Sir Elton John’s mashup with Fragment creating the Roshe Cortez in 2015 which combined the Cortez and now infamous Roshe Run and even a high top chukka variant of the Cortez releasing the same year.The sneaker played such a huge role in the film that they have since become synonymous with it much like the Air Jordan 4s worn by Spike Lee in the 1989 basketball film ‘Do The Right Thing’.

However, that isn’t to say that Nike isn’t gearing up to celebrate the classic model in the latter half of 2022. Having re-released the women's ‘Señorita Cortez’ earlier this year as well as sharing official looks at the Nike SB ‘BRSB’ (AKA Blue Ribbon SB) which is a clear nod to Nike’s origins with the OG Cortez colourway and silhouette, it may simply be a matter of time.Acting almost as a final jab at adidas, the Cortez name was derived from the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes who led an expedition which brought the fall of the Aztec Empire in the 1500s. During the ‘80s, the Nike Cortez continued to be a huge success in pop culture, particularly finding its footing within the music industry. In the mid-'70s - early ‘80s Sir Elton John worked closely with Nike to create his own Cortez sneaker which featured the midsole design of the 1979 Nike Roadrunner.

During the late ‘60s, the Cortez wasn’t made of leather as we know it today. During its time being manufactured by Blue Ribbon Sports and Tiger, the shoe was made out of nylon resin that aimed to create a lightweight feel that still provides the ample support needed for a long-distance running sneaker. In an advert seen from this time by BRS (Blue Ribbon Sports), they call the technology ‘Swoosh Fiber’. While this is not mentioned as an inspiration behind the Nike ‘Swoosh’ we all know today, the name does seem to reference the iconic Nike logo in a way that seems too close to be a coincidence. Since its release, the Nike Cortez has seemed to dip out of favour from the mainstream with attention moving to basketball sneakers and Air Max as time passed. Nevertheless, Nike has been able to keep the spirit of its very first silhouette alive, with many still holding it in high regard. By 1975, three variants of the Nike Cortez were in production including the now-classic leather version as well as a suede variant and nylon finish - the nylon weighing in at around 0.34 KG, ‘the worst lightest running shoe’ as proclaimed by Nike at the time. At the time, adidas had released a running spike sneaker called the ‘Azteca Gold’ which featured a very similar shape to the Onitsuka spikes as well as similar overlays on the heel and used a similar name. With this being the case, Bowerman was tasked with finding a new name for the sneaker, this time choosing the name ‘Cortez’. Onitsuka Co. was originally founded in 1949, later merging with GTO Co. and JELENK Co. in 1977. Following the merger, the company officially formed “ASICS”. Today, under the umbrella of the ASICS company are the ASICS and Onitsuka Tiger brands. ASICS historical timelineWhile the Cortez was a staple within the running community, 1976 saw it explode into pop culture. In an episode of Charlie’s Angels, the actress Farah Fawcett can be seen skating in a women’s version of the leather Nike Cortez titled the ‘Señorita Cortez’. Following the release, sales of the women’s sizing of the sneaker grew massively, with the image of Fawcett becoming iconic not only in Nike’s history, but sneaker history as a whole. During this time period, ASICS created innovative products used by professional athletes around the world. ASICS champions in the 2000’s 1. Naoko Takahashi, 2000.