Nike Cortez

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if you know me, you know how much I love Nike Cortez.

 Nike Cortez holds a place in my heart for a few reasons. Firstly, they were my first pair of trainers, in the red, white and blue – Forrest Gump colourway… and yes, I had them with a Velcro strap before I was old enough to lace.

Secondly, I love Forrest Gump, it’s definitely one of my top 5 movies and thirdly I love the connection with LA street culture, hip hop and west coast rap, because again, if you know me, you know how much I love music artists like Dom Kennedy and Nipsey Hussle.

So, when Nike announced that one of their key product stories for 2023 was the Nike Cortez, my ears pricked up and I was ready. Their brief explained that the Cortez had been around for so long that it has been forgotten about and we needed to gain the interest of the future generation.

I’m sure you’ll agree - all you see these days is Nike Dunks and AF1’s and although they’re cute and easy to wear, Nike wanted to pave an opening for the Cortez, and rightly so.  Nike sent over some further ‘thought starters’ as we like to call them, and we began brainstorming ideas for the size? exclusive Nike Cortez we were planning to launch this year. We had the grey and brown colourway along with a variety of inline launches.

For this campaign the brand was keen for us to create a 360 campaign which means digital and social campaign, retail activation and event – and although it can be stressful at times, these campaigns are by far my favourite. It’s amazing to see a campaign go live online, instore and then see people attend and enjoy an event which you pulled together.

What did they used to say in school – ‘put your thinking cap on’ and mine was on and brainstorming ideas to share with our creative team. I liked the idea of shooting the campaign like BTS footage (behind the scenes footage for you slow ones) and Nike were keen to have a female focus. My idea was to find a cool female stylist, who is immersed within the community and tell her story – how she got into the industry and previous things she’s worked on – someone inspiring and interesting.

She would then style the shoot for us using our Nike Cortez and Nike apparel. We would shoot BTS style footage which would be ‘official’ campaign assets and then she would host a ‘styling’ workshop and event for our size? community to attend.

I know… genius.

 So with the help of our talent team, creative team and events agency we started working, with a turnaround of two weeks, of course - because what do they say… pressure makes diamonds?

 We found a super cool and talented stylist - @Rhiannon_isabel and the shoot went ahead. Rhiannon is not only a fashion stylist, but also a vintage collector and fashion consultant who runs – Ninety Fly, an extensive archive of rare pieces and hard to find gems from fashions most coveted names.

Amazing right?

 Along with the shoot we planned an instore activation in 5 key stores – London, Manchester, Liverpool, Amsterdam and Paris and to keep the female focus, we decided to go with a pink theme, to really make the brown product stand out. We used images from the shoot in the windows and created a dynamic display in our flagship Carnaby Street store using screens.

 Then finally, we planned and hosted an event in Shoreditch, because where better to host a fashion event?

Of course, we had a DJ, drinks sponsored by Jamaica Rum Vibes and food by Wing Shack Co - 10/10 vegan chicken wings by the way.

We hosted a panel talk with some creatives and stylists within the industry and a workshop where attendees could up-cycle vintage Nike product, sourced by Rhiannon.

We also had a trainer charms company and a heat press company so attendees could personalise their kicks and add some patches to their Nike t-shirts.. I’ll drop a picture of mine.

And I guess, as they say, that’s a wrap.

Campaign – complete

Retail activation – done

Workshop and event – smashed it

 Cya at the next one x