How Nike Cortez Is Staking Its Claim As the It-Shoe of the Summer

Well+Good Editors

June 13, 2017

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In all of the ways activewear has taken over mainstream style (these days it's spotted on both high-fashion runways and in the closets of New York City downtown girls), the most ubiquitous by far is not what's happening on legs, but on feet. Specifically, the added cool factor of the old-school sneaker.

Exhibit A: Nike Cortez, the iconic style that went from 1970s running shoe to millennial street-look must-have. And at our back-to-back celebrations of the it-shoe's 45th anniversary, the transformation was on full display.

The most ubiquitous activewear trend is not what’s happening on legs, but on feet.

If you weren't at Niketown New York's 57th Street flagship on June 1 and June 8, here's what you missed: an entire lobby that was all about the shiny new Cortez (the latest style is a white mesh superstar you may have peeped on Bella Hadid's Instagram) and throngs of NYC cool girls stocking up on sneakers to a soundtrack of DJ-spun Beyoncé hits.

To kick things off, Well+Good co-founder Melisse Gelula and senior editor Jordan Galloway joined style blogger Christina Zayas (AKA Le City Kitty) to pay homage to the classic kicks—which, if you haven't surmised already, means the Cortez is definitely back.

Scroll down to see the latest Nike Cortez looks and all of the action from the energy-packed, W+G-approved bashes.

The space-age Niketown New York lobby was all decked out in Cortez to celebrate the 45th anniversary.

Meanwhile, fashion expert Christina Zayas struck a pose amidst the all-white backdrop.

Hashtag Cortez!

Guests poured in to check out the wears...

...and went home with just a few boxes.

Even Well+Good senior editor Jordan Galloway (left) and chief content officer Melisse Gelula (right) couldn't help eyeing the goods with Zayas.

Hello, Cortez-themed manis—doled out by Vanity Projects.

Finished result (with a glass of Prosecco, of course!).

The evening's hosts gave a few remarks about the endurance of the Cortez in pop culture. Proof? Galloway (left) even spotted the same black pair on a bike messenger while she cycled through Soho in her kicks.