Nike Cortez: break-dancing legend, outlaw uniforms and Elton John’s favorite shoe

“The Cortes is the brand’s first model that is still in production today. The history of the silhouette is a great case study on “How to make a product iconic”. During its half-century history, the sneakers became a symbol of several historical events at once. We will tell you about them.

The long road to victory over the Aztecs

The history of the Cortez model and the Nike brand as such begins in the mid-1960s, when Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman began distributing sports shoes of the Onitsuka Tiger company to the American market.

Bill is an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike (then tiny Blue Ribbon Sports). In alliance with Onitsuka Tiger, he developed sneakers with an aerodynamic upper and a solid foam sole with an embossed herringbone pattern. In 1966, they became one of the best-selling running shoes because Bill took into account everything athletes needed.

The history of the name as if predetermined the fate of the sneakers themselves: the first attempt – and immediately scandal. The developers decided to name the sensational model Aztec, referring to the history of Mexico and the Aztecs. This association was used as advertising: the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City were approaching and the creators of the sneakers simply decided to make such a marketing move.

However, in February 1968, adidas officially disagreed: “The Aztec name of your running shoes is too similar to the name of the adidas Azteca Gold spiked running shoes”. After such a legal jab from the Germans, Nike settled on Cortez. It is believed that the name was chosen in honor of conquistador Hernan Cortez, who defeated the Aztecs.

In 1972, Nike permanently severed relations with Onitsuka and won through the court the rights to the name Cortez and the design of top sneakers Onitsuka Tiger. The “swoosh” appears on the model, and from that moment the journey of those very Cortez begins.

In the main role

The very first variation of the model had a leather upper. The sneakers looked great and performed all their functions, but turned out to be a bit heavy for athletes.

Over the next few years, the model changed and acquired various modifications, including the lightest version with a nylon upper (1975), as well as a women’s version called Senorita Cortez (1976).

This model became popular thanks to Hollywood star Farrah Fawcett and the original Charlie’s Angels TV series, where in one chase scene the actress rushes on a skateboard in a Nike Cortez Seniorita. In 2017, for the 45th anniversary of the model, the brand repeated this famous shot with Bella Hadid in its advertising campaign.

It’s worth saying that the public life of the Cortez has become very colorful, as the sneaker has been a regular reminder of itself in the cultural enlightenment since the late 70s:

• Sir Elton John participates in the creation of the Cortez Roadrunner modification, regularly wears the model at his concerts and even dedicates lines of songs to the brand;
• at the end of the 80s, thanks to the legendary song Dopeman by NWA, the sneakers become hyper-popular among breakdancers and are known as Dopeman’s Nikes;
• in 1994, “cortezes” take their place of honor in movie history thanks to their brilliant integration into the movie “Forrest Gump”;
• sneakers became an important element of the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”, where Leonardo DiCaprio’s character wore Cortezes.

Becoming iconic in hip-hop and street culture, Cortez sooner or later had to attract the attention of big gangs.

A symbol of crime

In the USA of the 80’s – 90’s the best and sometimes the only way to recognize a gangster was just to look at his sneakers. Every gang in the States had its own unspoken dress code. Nike Cortez sneakers can be called a classic example of how ordinary sports shoes become a distinctive feature of a gangster.

At first, shoes did not play an important role in the criminal world, but by the early 90’s everything changed: for “gang” sneakers, which were worn by a man who was not a member of a gang, easily killed right on the street.

In the criminal world, the major gangs chose for themselves “their” sneakers: African-American Crips preferred Converse, Bloods chose for themselves several models of Reebok, and Nike Cortez became a trademark of MS-13, infamously known as Mara Salvatrucha. This gang was (and is) characterized by its brutality and the fact that it was completely unafraid of the police.

First, Nike sneakers were banned from schools and colleges. Then the police began to simply arrest guys in “cortes” right on the streets. In the 90’s there were cases when police officers shot to kill guys wearing these sneakers.

Nike Cortez have played no small role in the police’s fight against crime – in 2017, the arrests led to a gang leader instructing all MS-13 members to take off their cortezes. This fact hit the model’s image hard, and the sneakers finally began to lose their criminal-romantic halo.

“Cortes” today

A model with such a rich history simply could not “disappear from the radar”, so Nike does not stop releasing new variations and today.

In the early 2010s, the company begins to actively popularize the model among the new generation of snickerheads. The process reaches its peak in 2012, by the 40th anniversary of the silhouette: the event becomes an occasion for the release of special editions, as well as collaborations based on the legendary model.

The latest major update (stylistic rather than technological) took place in 2018 in the form of a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. One of the models in the limited-edition collaborative collection featured the Nike Cortez with a chunky textile upper, a closed lacing area, and a leislock (lace lock) on the back.