Cop your Nike Windrunners today!

NIKE SPORTSWEAR UNVEILS
SPECIALLY CRAFTED WINDRUNNERS IN METALLIC COLOURS

Rooted in sports, this season’s Nike Windrunner collection takes on a new twist for consumers who are looking for self-expression and unlimited creativity.


Manila, Philippines. October 31, 2008 – Gold and Silver reign as the key colors featured in the Holiday 08 season of Nike Windrunners. One of 8 icons within Nike Sportswear collection, this iconic apparel is rooted in Nike’s passion for sport while re-mastered and further improved for this season. Playing up the ‘Bling’ factor for the collection, each metallic hue is paired up with 12 pop shades to create unique combinations that cater to style-savvy consumers that wish to express their individualism through their selection.

“This season’s Nike Windrunner metallic collection is all about anchoring the style in the heritage of sports and having fun with colors. By bringing in limited quantities will serve to elevate this iconic product within the Nike Sportswear range while catering to our discerning consumers who can appreciate quality craftsmanship to suit their taste,” said Nike Philippines Country Marketing Manager Mae Dichupa.

The Windrunner is Nike’s most recognizable piece of apparel. Designed as a running jacket, its nylon construction meant lightweight wear. But the Windrunner quickly transcended its athletic identity thanks to early hip-hop culture, which made it its own. Re-mastered for today, the lightweight shell is even lighter, built from super-breathable nylon and equipped with an updated hood that forgoes a hood adjuster for a clean finish.

Retailing each at P2,995, the collection will be made available for a limited time at Nike Park The Fort & Trinoma and Nike Stadium Greenbelt 5 from 31st October onwards. For more information, please visit: www.nikesportswear.com.








Windrunner: The ‘Cape Suit’ History
The iconic Windrunner with its signature 26° angle chest chevron and myriad color ways and versions. Popular culture, athletes of all stripes and online auction aficionados have all fallen under its powerful spell. Here then, is its potted history…

The Windrunner
The 26-degree chevron gives it away: you’ve seen it before. The ultimate running jacket, the Windrunner became the face of Nike apparel at a time when Nike was known for its footwear. The ’84 games offered the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how technologically advanced sporting equipment enhanced performance from head to toe; with 58 Nike supported athletes taking home 65 medals.

The Man Behind the Windrunner
A native of Eugene, Oregon, Geoff Hollister loved two things: art and the steeplechase. When it came time for college, it was only natural for him to attend the University of Oregon, just down the street, and to run for its legendary track coach Bill Bowerman. At Oregon, Geoff pursued a degree in fine arts while serving as a guinea pig for Bowerman’s footwear experiments.

In 1967, as a junior, Geoff began working with Oregon alum Philip Knight, who had recently started a business with Bowerman importing Japanese-made Onitsuka Tiger running shoes. Selling shoes allowed Geoff to earn extra cash for school and to buy himself a Studebaker Avanti, from which he would sell shoes when he drove to regional track meets on the weekends.

After graduating in 1968, Geoff served as a navigator in the navy during the Vietnam War, remaining in touch with Bowerman and Knight all the while. Upon his discharge, Geoff returned to work for them; by that time their company, then called Blue Ribbon Sports, was producing its own shoes. Geoff jumped right in, using his skills in art to create all manner of promotional materials for the fast-approaching Olympic trials in Eugene.

Apparel Designer and Athlete Liaison
Geoff took over Steve “Pre” Prefontaine’s unofficial role as Nike’s athlete relations representative after Pre’s untimely death in 1975. The title positioned him as both apparel designer and athlete liaison. While at times marketing and product development may seem at odds with each other, at Nike it wasn’t strange at all for Geoff to meet with an athlete, talk over his specific product needs, and hook him up with new training products. Geoff would then work this information back into the various prototypes Nike was developing.

In the spring of 1978, Geoff set out to create new training products for his Nike-sponsored runners. Hollister's primary goal was to create apparel to protect against the windy and soggy climate of the Pacific Northwest during winter training season. He recalled his study of the Pacific Coast Native Americans from one of his favorite classes, Native American History. He had been impressed by images of the woven cedar-bark capes that the Native Americans wore during the soggy Pacific Northwest winters to shield them from the rain and wind.



26°
Drawing inspiration from this evocative image, Geoff split the material of his new nylon jacket on the horizontal plane of the wearer’s shoulders; the two sides met in a distinctive 26-degree point on the chest. Hollister enhanced the division of the two fabrics with a bold colorblock that met in a distinctive chevron point on the chest. He equipped the upper with a microthin coating of water-repellent polyurethane, and the lower with vented insets to provide breathability as the athletes went through their warm-ups.

The ‘Cape Suit’
At some point after he drew the distinctive style line, Geoff probably noticed the striking superhero-like figure that the Windrunner cut on those who wore it. The look must have steeled the athletes’ confidence as they took to the field.

The 26° chevron with the different colors effectively created a “superhero” look for whoever wore it. The garment quickly gained favor with serious runners and in 1980 it assumed its place in history as the first piece of Nike apparel to be worn by athletes at the U.S. Track & Field Trials in Eugene, Oregon.

From Trackwear to Everyday Wear
Though Hollister would forever refer to his design as the ‘Cape Suit’, the “Windrunner” was officially named in the 1982 apparel catalogue. The Windrunner was later appropriated from the track to the street, earning infamy as a B-boy and street culture icon. Truly a case study of form following function and culture following athletics, the Windrunner design has endured for over 25 years.


About Nike Sportswear
Nike Sportswear is a product line rooted in the company’s passion for sport while at the same time remixing and improving iconic designs with new technologies. With almost four decades of sport history at its foundation, Nike Sportswear seeks to channel the genuine rebel spirit of Nike’s roots by crafting product that challenges the expected, asking designers to push athletic innovation to its extreme, remixing iconic designs with new technologies and making the best product for today’s needs. Nike Sportswear launches on 8.8.08 with eight iconic Nike products celebrating the legacy of Nike design. It includes: the Air Force 1, the Windrunner, AW 77 Hoody, the Nike Dunk, Air Max 90, Eugene Track Jacket, the Cortez and NSW Tee. For more information, nikesportswear.com

About Nike
NIKE, Inc. based near Beaverton, Oregon, is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; Cole Haan, which designs, markets and distributes luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats; and Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories. For more information, www.nikebiz.com.