Nike

Nike was originally founded in 1964 by University of Oregon track athlete Philip Knight and his coach former Olympian Bill Bowerman under the name Blue Ribbon Sports.

Blue Ribbon Sports began as a distributor for Onitsuka Tiger a Japanese sports shoe manufacturer.

Before opening their first shop in 1966 Knight and Bowerman sold sports shoes from the back of Knights cars at sporting events.

The successful relationship between Blue Ribbon and Onitsuka Tiger led to the launch of their own footwear range in 1971 which sported their new "Swoosh" brand logo designed by Carolyn Davidson.

The pair named their first sport soccer shoe after the Greek goddess of victory "Nike" which led to the rebranding of their company in 1978.

Under the new brand name, Nike was quickly established as a leading sports brand with a massive 50% share of the US athletic shoe market by 1980. The company went public the same year.

In 1982 Nike ran their first national television campaign during the broadcast of the New York Marathon using Portland based advertising agency Wieden & Kennedy, who in 1988 came up with the infamous slogan "Just do it".

Knight and Nike changed the way that sports shoes were marketed in the 1980's when they signed a mutually beneficial deal with college basketball player Michael Jordan.

Sports shoes became status symbols and individuals who played sport were turned into heroes in the eyes of the public.

Recent -brand endorsements include golfing super star Tiger Woods, Champion tennis player Roger Federer and International footballers Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

Nike has grown globally from the 1980's to become one of the world's largest and most successful multibillion dollar sports brand.

In 1999, Bill Bowerman, died aged 88 and in 2004 Phil Knight stepped down as CEO and president of Nike, remaining in the position of chairman.

Over the years Nike has continually introduced new products lines ranging from sports equipment, sports clothing, lifestyle clothing and accessories, (including the introduction of sunglasses in the late 1990's).

With a moto of "Fashionable function, Functional fashion" Nike sunglasses offer authentic cutting edge sports inspired designs for the fashion forward.

Made in Italy with the latest technology to help improve performance, Nike sunglasses are renowned for their superior quality and durability.

Each pair of sunglasses comes with the instantly recognisable Nike "Swoosh", representing performance, comfort and style.