Unfolding five decades of design, collaboration and cultural impact from one of the most iconic sneaker brands of all time
Published to accompany the fall 2024 exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, this volume explores the design history of Nike, one of the world’s most revered sports brands. The exhibition catalog follows the evolution of the company’s design culture, tracing milestones, iconic objects and inspirations across their 50-year legacy. It also highlights Nike’s scientific research, which always begins with close examination of the body in motion, ultimately melding technology, function and aesthetics. The book features a wealth of previously unseen materials including rarities and one-offs from the company’s early days in the 1960s, original design drawings and prototypes of iconic sneaker models, historical documents and films, and the results of collaborations with creative figures such as Virgil Abloh and Marc Newson. It also illuminates the stories behind iconic objects and innovations, such as the development of the first waffle sole in the kitchen of Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman, or the story of the Tennessee State University Tigerbelles, a team of Black female athletes during the Black Power era in the United States. Leading design historians provide essays on diverse topics including the use of graphics, collaborative relationships with athletes and fashion designers, advanced R&D and more. In addition, the book features excerpted interviews with over 50 figures who have played a key role in Nike’s history, arranged in a readable conversational format. Not just for “sneakerheads,” the book provides deep insight into one of the world’s most sophisticated design entities and the relationship between product design, technical innovation and social change.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
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Sophia De La Cruz
It’s via an unwavering commitment to design that [Nike] embraces the endless pursuit of athletic betterment in all its forms; no garment or sneaker comes out from pure instinct.
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“Necessity is always the mother of invention. Pure research may stumble upon something that is useful, but I think most innovations have been related to a need.” So said legendary track and field coach, trainer of Olympians, and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman—known across the globe for having invented the brand’s iconic first major running shoe in 1972, in his home kitchen, by use of his wife’s waffle iron. This, of course, is only the tip of the iceberg, in terms of Nike innovation. The rest of the company’s design history is now told, for the first time with full access to the Department of Nike Archives (DNA)—the company’s own internal archive of more than 200,000 prototypes, documents, products and items of ephemera—via a brilliantly curated exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, Germany. Pictured here: the classic Nike Internationalist running shoe in an experimental suspension apparatus, ca. 1981. It is reproduced from Vitra’s impeccably designed and printed exhibition catalog, Nike: Form Follows Motion. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8.75 x 11.75 in. / 352 pgs / 475 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $85.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $125 ISBN: 9783945852644 PUBLISHER: Vitra Design Museum AVAILABLE: 12/17/2024 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Vitra Design Museum. Edited by Mateo Kries, Glenn Adamson.
Unfolding five decades of design, collaboration and cultural impact from one of the most iconic sneaker brands of all time
Published to accompany the fall 2024 exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, this volume explores the design history of Nike, one of the world’s most revered sports brands. The exhibition catalog follows the evolution of the company’s design culture, tracing milestones, iconic objects and inspirations across their 50-year legacy. It also highlights Nike’s scientific research, which always begins with close examination of the body in motion, ultimately melding technology, function and aesthetics.
The book features a wealth of previously unseen materials including rarities and one-offs from the company’s early days in the 1960s, original design drawings and prototypes of iconic sneaker models, historical documents and films, and the results of collaborations with creative figures such as Virgil Abloh and Marc Newson. It also illuminates the stories behind iconic objects and innovations, such as the development of the first waffle sole in the kitchen of Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman, or the story of the Tennessee State University Tigerbelles, a team of Black female athletes during the Black Power era in the United States.
Leading design historians provide essays on diverse topics including the use of graphics, collaborative relationships with athletes and fashion designers, advanced R&D and more. In addition, the book features excerpted interviews with over 50 figures who have played a key role in Nike’s history, arranged in a readable conversational format. Not just for “sneakerheads,” the book provides deep insight into one of the world’s most sophisticated design entities and the relationship between product design, technical innovation and social change.
