Nike is set to release a “Shoemaker” pack that pays tribute to Bill Bowerman, the late founder of Blue Ribbon Sports (Nike’s predecessor) and the Swoosh itself, using graphic motifs and an inspired color palette.
The collection includes two Air Force 1s, an Air Max 270 React, and an Air Max 90, all featuring a combination of red, white, blue, and black. The color scheme appears to pay homage to the Nike Cortez, which actually began as a Bowerman-crafted Onitsuka Tiger shoe (entitled the Corsair), a shoe that Blue Ribbon Sports distributed prior to the Nike’s founding.
Both the shoes and apparel in the collection feature a brick print motif (said to represent the obstacles in front of Nike athletes), and the apparel includes design cues from an article Bowerman wrote for Guideposts magazine entitled “The Kitchen-table Shoemaker,” likely a reference to his creation of the original Nike Waffle sole using his wife’s waffle iron. The years 1964 and 1972 also decorate the apparel, a nod to the founding dates of Blue Ribbon Sports and Nike, respectively. A butterfly motif symbolizes the athlete’s journey, but just as easily stand in for the eventual blossoming of Bowerman’s Blue Ribbon Sports into Nike.
The Nike Shoemaker Pack is available now via Japanese retailer ABC-MART, with info on a global release currently unknown, though the black Air Force 1 has already released in the US via Nike.com. You can take a look at images of the collection down below.
Nike “Shoemaker Pack” Apparel
Nike Air Force 1 07 “Shoemaker Pack”
Color: Black/University Red/White/Photo Blue
Style Code: CT2816-001
Price: $90
Nike Air Force 1 07 “Shoemaker Pack”
Color: White/University Red/Photo Blue/Black
Style Code: CT2816-100
Price: $90
Nike Air Max 270 React “Shoemaker Pack”
Color: White/Photo Blue-University Red
Style Code: DA2400-100
Price: $160
Nike Air Max 90 “Shoemaker Pack”
Color: Photo Blue/University Red
Style Code: CT1687-400
