At a presentation that took place during Nike’s grassroots activities in Akron, James Hayden gave James an uniquely designed pair of Air Max LeBron VII shoes. James Hayden is a 34-year-old certified tattoo artist, born in Cleveland Ohio. Mother Maureen Hayden helped hone his artistic skills from day one, which gave Hayden a true love for the visual arts. Hayden attended many art programs and classes at the Cleveland Museum of Art from ages 8-15, and furthered his art education at Cleveland Heights High School. In 2000, Hayden began to explore the art of tattooing, which soon after took off as a career. He opened his first tattoo shop in Cleveland Ohio in 2005. Hayden has built a great reputation as a tattoo artist by doing quality work and has tattooed many athletes including LeBron James. Hayden has continued to grow as an artist and is always interested in sharing his love for art with others. “My inspiration to design these shoes was driven by LeBron’s tattoos,” says Hayden. “As a tattoo artist, it’s such an honor to tattoo an individual like LeBron. He’s a very focused person on and off the court – his love for family and his loyalty to his city are shown repeatedly in his tattoos. I wanted to replicate his dedication wtihin the design on the shoes.” We previewed three upcoming artist VII’s and the Akron edition seems to be the most appealing among the six that’s been unveiled thus far. Don’t you agree?

source: 1shoes.blogspot,com

The company’s profits grew quickly, and in 1966, BRS opened its first retail store, located on Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica, Calif. In 1971, with the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger nearing an end, BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the newly designed “Swoosh.” [Sources: ‘Swoosh’ by J.B. Strasser and ‘Just Do It’ by Donald Katz.]

The first shoe to carry this design was a soccer/football cleat named “Nike,” which was released in the summer of 1971. In February 1972, BRS introduced its first line of Nike shoes, with the name Nike derived from the Greek goddess of victory. In 1978, BRS, Inc. officially renamed itself to Nike, Inc. Beginning with Ilie Nastase, the first professinal athlete to sign with BRS/Nike, the sponsorship of athletes became a key marketing tool for the rapidly growing company.

By 1980, Nike had reached a 50% market share in the United States athletic shoe market, and the company went public in December of that year. Its growth was due largely to ‘word-of-foot’ advertising (to quote a Nike print ad from the late 1970s), rather than television ads. Nike’s first national television commercials ran in October of 1982 during the broadcast of the New York Marathon. The ads were created by Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, which had formed several months earlier in April 1982.

Together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many indelible print and television ads and the agency continues to be Nike’s primary today. It was agency co-founder Dan Wieden who coined the now-famous slogan “Just Do It” for a 1988 Nike ad campaign, which was chosen by Advertising Age as one of the top five ad slogans of the 20th Century, and the campaign has been enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution.

Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its product line to include many other sports and regions throughout the world