This is a black cotton Nike t-shirt emblazoned with the “Just Do It” slogan in yellow and “Nike” with the “swoosh” underneath it in pink. The Nike “swoosh” became the trademark of the brand in the early 1970s, while “Just Do It” was first used during a 1988 ad campaign.
Nike was founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. Bill Bowerman, a track and field coach for the University of Oregon, and Phil Knight, a former student athlete of Bowerman’s, formed the company to distribute athletic shoes from a Japanese company. In 1971, the name was changed to Nike and the company changed from being a distributor of shoes to manufacturing and selling their own shoes. Nike debuted with the iconic “swoosh” logo in 1972, just in time for the U.S. Track and Field trials.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.