We all know NIKE but do we really??!!

Many of us have heard the brand Nike. It has become an international brand. Almost all athletes wear Nike Activewear which includes clothes and shoes. Today I will give you more of an insight of this brand.  This brand was founded at the University of Oregon by track athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. At first it started as a main distributor for running shoes. Coach Bill Bowerman made the first running shoes for Phillip Knight and it is said that they were not comfortable at first. The company's first self-designed product was based on Bowerman's "waffle" design. Bowerman began experimenting with different potential outsoles that would grip the new urethane track more effectively. His efforts were rewarded one Sunday morning when he poured liquid urethane into his wife's waffle iron. Bowerman developed and refined the so-called "waffle" sole, which would evolve into the now-iconic Waffle Trainer in 1974.

 Bill Bowerman

First Nike Show

 Phillip Knight

By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U.S. 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 1982, during the broadcast of the New York Marathon . The ads were created by Portland-based advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy.

Together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nike's primary ad agency. It was agency co-founder  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. This world wide known slogan has made Nike a success.

-Monica Melara

Russell Simmons likes Yoga???

I was browsing through WWD.com to see if I could find some juicy info going on in the Activewear industry and I came across an article titles: Russell Simmons to Launch Yoga Brand Tantris. I had no idea that Russell Simmons was into Yoga! So, of course I had to do some more research and apparently everyone else except me knew he has been practicing yoga for 20+ years!!  

Russell Simmons, photo by Scott Rudd

His current company, Russell Simmons Design Group, linked a multiyear licensing deal with Gaiia Enterprises Global Ltd. to develop Tantris. The lifestyle brand will include both women's and men's activewear, meditation beads, yoga mats, pillows, and scented candles. His plan is that once the collection is carried at 300-400 department stores, specialty stores, health clubs, and spas, he will then begin to open up his own Tantris stores, yoga studios, juice bars, and a Vegan restaurant! 

"I see yoga studios starting to grow, and yoga classes getting more crowded. I see yoga brands continuing to grow. I'm doing this because of my passion for yoga not because I am that kind of business guy."- Russell Simmons (to WWD)

According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers' Association of America, about 25 million people in the US now practice yoga and has seen 25% gains in participation in recent years. Simmons opted for the word "Tantris" as opposed to the Sanskrit word "tantra" because "a lot of yogis don't like to see a sanskrit word used that way", Russell said. 

Simmons also plans on launching a third book, Mass Mantra on HSN before the end of September this year. He has about 1.47 million followers on twitter causing him to already have a captive audience. In order to spread the word even more about his brand and the power of yoga, Tantris-rubber bracelets with Russell's mantra "Smile and breathe" will be sold. We will begin to see the collection being sold by the end of this month at wholesale prices will range from $16-$59 for women's styles, and $22-$68 for the men's jackets. (not to shabby!)

Russell speaking at the Jivamukti Master Class

He will launch an e-commerce website in September for Tantris and plans on using some of the sales from the activewear towards scholarships to train aspiring yogis. Awesome! 

"Yoga is meant to relieve the noise. After doing yoga, I feel alive and awakened." Russell Simmons.

xo, Arlene Guerrero