Nike celebrates 50 years of serving athletes

Nike’s mission of bringing inspiration and innovation to every athlete is fuelled by a belief that it is “never done”. Like the athletes it serves, Nike is constantly setting new goals and new ambitions

Celebrating 50 years of Nike. Photo: handout

This year Nike is celebrating 50 years of moving the world forward through the power of sport. Nike brings this celebration in the form of an exhibition to local athletes through “Nike at 50: A Genealogy of Progress”. 

Curated by Nike Hong Kong, the never done spirit comes to life in the four zones illuminating different areas of progress. The entire experience is connected to Nike’s lineage and the commitment to serving athletes. The celebration is to highlight the next five decades of Nike imagining “better and creating a better world for the future of sport and the planet”.

Zone 1: Nike Moments – Then, Now and The Future

Nike’s championing of athletes and sport is rooted in its culture of innovation, and this is evident in our products. This zone combines the past, present and future of Nike into an immersive audiovisual experience. Relive the key historical moments and legacy, celebrate the signature shoes and ground-breaking ads of our times and champion our athletes and the numerous possibilities ahead. You will recognize local familiar faces, such as Rex Tso, Stephanie Au and Edgar Cheung Ka Long.

Zone 2: Moon Path – Evolution of Marathon Innovation

The Moon Shoe, released in 1972, is both a relic of Nike’s independence year and its ambition. Since the beginning, Nike has been innovating its products so athletes* can perform at their best. This passage of marathon heritage holds a carefully selected array of running footwear, defined by its technology and the ambition to support athletes and better protect the planet. The line-up begins from the original pair of Moon Shoe presented by K11, to the record-breaking Alphafly Next%.

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Zone 3: Allure of Air – Taking off

When Air entered the Nike universe in the late 1970s, it was embraced because of its potential. Air is where design, engineering and manufacturing meet. In 1987, the technology was “revealed” to the world, birthing the iconic Air Max lineage. This tunnel houses one of the company’s most iconic innovations, the Nike Air. Spanning new shapes and addressing new cushioning challenges along the way. Air is the pioneer and one of Nike’s most sustainable innovations.

Zone 4: Move To Zero – Sustainable design

Rethinking design methods and manufacturing processes to advance athlete performance and protect the planet is a long-standing Nike trait. Within the Move To Zero lounge, Nike’s history of sustainable innovation is on display, featuring Zvezdochka, one of Nike’s first attempts at a closed-loop product. And Pegasus Turbo Next Nature, the latest development in performance footwear with the future of the planet in mind.

Alongside on display, six local creative visionaries repurpose Nike manufacturing waste in artistic expressions, with the theme of creating a sustainable living space. Waste upcycled include unwanted shoe boxes and Nike manufacturing fabric scraps. All manufacturing waste is collected locally, echoing Nike’s circular vision for a closed-loop supply chain system.

Art pieces can be individually purchased for a charitable cause. All proceeds will go towards Share For Good, a crowd-donation platform by New World Development to support communities in need fighting against COVID-19 and undergoing post-COVID-19 recovery.

Nike at 50: A Genealogy of Progress is opened to the public from May 23 until June 11. Prior registration is required.

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