ONITSUKA TIGER CORSAIR

The Onitsuka Tiger Corsair is absolutely the most iconic and fascinating Asics’ silhouette. This was the jogging shoe of the early 70s, originally released for the 1969 Mexico games and created by the brain of Bill Bowerman, who built a prototype of a new runner from the best bits of two existing Tiger models. Originally named Aztec in honour of the Olympic host city, the name was changed at the last minute to Cortez, because Adidas spoiled the ceremony by releasing the Azteca Gold and threatened with legal action.

Later a new american brand, owned by Bowerman (and Phil Knight), started producing their own ‘Nike’ branded Cortez, identical to the Onitsuka Tiger version bar the chubby ticks that replaced the slim Tiger stripes. A court later decreed that both Onitsuka and Nike could sell the Cortez model. Nike retained the shoe’s original name, while Tiger dubbed their version the Corsair.

N.B.  THIS PRODUCT IS OFFERED IN Us MEN’S SIZING. Us WOMEN’S CONVERSION IS 1.5 SIZES LARGER THAN SIZE LISTED (MEN’S 5 IS A WOMEN’S 6.5).