The 435.000 dollars that Miles Nadal paid for Nike Moon Shoe’s would turn them into the most expensive sneakers in history, doubling the price that was paid for a pair of Converse worn by Michael Jordan at the Los Angeles 1994 Olympics and quadrupling the Jordan XII that Michael wore in the fondly remembered Flu Game. There are cases of exaggerated figures associated with famous people and celebrities, however, the most expensive sneaker in the world doesn’t hold any big name. What do these shoes have to be able to reach such a high price? History and influence.
In 1972, Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight were turning their import business into a brand they would end up calling Nike. They took advantage of the selection processes for the Olympic Games that were being held at Eugene, Nike’s birthplace, to turn their tiny store into the perfect place to promote themselves among athletes. The first Nike employees gifted personalised shirts with the brand’s logo in the front and the name of the runner in the back to try and gain visibility. Many of the athletes who went through that store took part of Nike’s history: Kenny Moore was one of the first testers for Bowerman, Frank Shorter was about to be the first Olympic medallist for Nike (he changed sneakers a few minutes before the start of the 1976 marathon), Jeff Galloway was the first athlete to finish the race with the swoosh and classified in the last place of the trials, Tom Derderian worked as a designer for Nike in the seventies and eighties.
Mark Covert was an athlete known at a university level that would try the marathon during the trials, the qualifying rounds. One of Nike’s first workers, Geoff Hollister, proposed him to work on something new, some sneakers that were being developed for his upcoming brand. That’s where they marked the silhouette of each foot on top of a paper, they measured the height of the arches and two days later Mark Covert knew the results: a sneaker designed specifically for him, completely different to anything ever made before.
Handmade by Hollister in collaboration with his local cobbler, Jim The Shoe Doctor, challenged one of Bill Bowerman’s ideas, the Waffle sole. Legend says that Bill Bowerman looked for a design that would improve the grip and the cushioning of athletes and American football players and he found inspiration in a waffle-making machine. The sole left a footprint that resembled what the astronauts who landed on the moon had left just a couple of years prior, which is why everyone started calling them Moon Shoes. According to Hollister himself, for the Olympic Games’ qualifying rounds they had to make around ten and twelve pairs, all of them adapted to the needs of each athlete. The nylon came directly from Japan and they were worked on by hand and this could be seen in the holes created to facilitate perspiration, the swoosh was sewn in with a fishing thread or the cuts of the sole.
Covert tried out the Nike Moon Shoe during the previous days to the marathon. The sole not only improved the grip but the heels also worked as extra cushioning along with the Spenco insole, another novelty that went unnoticed. The sneaker was so good that Covert even used it at the marathon we wanted something else in exchange, a printed shirt that read his nickname, Bushman, that was in reference to the beard and mane that were part of Covert’s signature style.
The day of the marathon the public were on the lookout for Steve Prefontaine, the local star, who was competing at the 5000 (it was after that race when he asked the public for a shirt in the STOP PRE legend). Against all odds, Covert placed ahead along with favourites Moore and Shorter, a trio that seemed to separate themselves for the rest to get classified for the Olympic Games. A phrase in the local radio managed to summarise the public’s feeling “Oh my god, a freak’s going to enter the Olympic team”.
Around the 20th mile, Covert started to pay for his audacity in the marathon. Slowly he started to lose positions until he came in in the seventh place at the Hayward Fields stadium, where he got a standing ovation as if he were Prefontaine himself. His underdog nature made him a fan favourite and he somehow established Nike’s image. It was the first race in which you could see the now recognisable swoosh.
Mark Covert became shortly after the manager of the first Nike store in Orange County and was internationally renowned because for forty-five years he didn’t stop running for one day. Bruce Mortenson or Dave Russell also kept running with those Moon Shoes, but the story of these sneakers will always be linked to Mark Covert, an unexpected bearded guy who was the star of the marathon.
Even though they were never sold, the Nike Moon Shoes served as a starting point for the Waffle soles that came into the market in 1973 in models like the Oregon Waffle, Waffle Trainer and Waffle Racer. The story of the Moon Shoe was so specific that Runner’s World devoted a whole article on them in which they even asked if using nails was necessary. The influence of that sole is seen nowadays in running shoes and re-editions that have served as inspiration for limited editions like Sacai’s LDWaffle. Some details of those first sneakers appear in current models as direct references ( Nike Moon Racer ) or hidden details (the way in which the eyelets hide the swoosh in the Air Max 270 React ).
One of the first pairs of Nike Moon Shoes were never worn and they were auctioned 47 years later. Those 435.000 dollars explain the origin and evolution of Nike but they pale in comparison to a discovery made in 2010. By doing excavations meant to solve problems of Bowerman’s garden power lines, a worked found a sneaker that matched to perfection with the description of the first prototypes created by Bill Bowerman with a waffle-maker. The sneaker, now owned by collector Jordan Geller, seems to be the only way to add to the legend of an item that means much more tea the money that was paid for them.
