This might seem strange but to understand this Nike collection we have to go back in time to 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. A unit of Finnish skiers managed to finish with several Soviet divisions that were equipped with the most advanced machinery but were least adapted to the terrain.
NIKE THE 10TH, THE STORY OF BILL BOWERMAN
The Nike React Sertu, Nike React Ianga and Nike Zoom Mo lines have a recognisable combination of utilitarianism, mountain spirit and running that hide their almost unknown inspiration. A small label gives us a hint about its origin, The 10th.
The American army created their first mountain unit thinking, first of all, on the possibility of an attack in Alaska. The Tenth Mountain Division (The 10th) gathered soldiers that came from the sport and ski specialists that had their base at Camp Hale, a camp that was at 2800 metres of elevation in which soldiers were trained in mountain techniques. Bill Bowerman wasn’t a ski specialist but he could make up for his knowledge in two very different matters; being a trainer and a farmer.
Bowerman was already a trainer but he had also been in contact with farm animals from his birth. The army could use his ability to manage teams but also in managing mules, which were essential to provide supplies through the mountains.
In December 1944 The 10th reached Italy as support in fighting against Germany in the Apennines. Bowerman had time to be promoted to lieutenant, managing a German retreat and receiving a silver medal for liberating an American colonel (even though Bowerman himself states that he did it by chance). He always claimed that the success of The 10th came from the men’s character as they were used to mountain life.
The American army developed specific products for The 10th, that had to adapt to an environment that was very different from the usual one; mountain boots that served as skiing footwear, reversible parkas, white uniforms, new vehicles and tools that many of those soldiers ending up adapting for their civil use. Many world champions went through The 10th like skier Friedl Pfeifer, mountain climbers Paul Petzoldt or Fred Becker and even two Von Trapp brothers.
Being more interested in recovering their own casualties than inflicting punishment to their enemy troops, Bowerman returned home after the fall of Germany in which should have been his downtime before leaving for Japan, his next stop. Just when his aeroplane touched down in Oregon, Japan announced its surrender. Bowerman never spoke about war again, he went back to training and continued developing products for athletes, a process that would end in the birth of Nike.
Eighty years later, a Nike collection remembers a fundamental moment in the life of one of the founders by combing outdoor references with street style and current technology as a nod to Bill Bowerman’s story.
