Charted: How the Logos of Select Fashion Brands Have Evolved
A global fashion brand needs to balance maintaining a consistent style built painstakingly over the years while adapting to current trends. And for some of them, their changing logos reflect the loop of reinvention, over decades of building products, markets, and consumer bases.
We illustrate the evolution of six fashion companies’ logos over time. Data for the visualization and article is sourced from 1000logos.net.
Nike & Adidas: A Tale of Two Shoe Companies
The world’s largest footwear company, Nike began its journey as Blue Ribbon Sports in 1964. In 1971, they rebranded as Nike, inspired by the Greek goddess of victory.
The famous swoosh logo was designed in 1971 by Carolyn Davidson, at the time a Portland State University graphic design student. She was paid $35 dollars for her work (about $270 today). Twelve years later, Nike co-founder Phil Knight have her 500 Nike shares that have remained unsold.
Here’s how often some of the world’s biggest fashion brands have changed their logos since founding.
| Brand | Logo Changes |
|---|---|
| Adidas | 10 |
| Levi’s | 8 |
| Nike | 4 |
| Gap | 4 |
| Lacoste | 3 |
| Zara | 3 |
Meanwhile, Adidas has far older origins: all the way back to 1920 Germany. Founded by Adolf Dassler, the company split into Adidas and Puma in 1947.
Dassler bought the iconic three stripes from another German sports company in 1947. In 1952, the stripes debuted on Adidas footwear at the Summer Olympics.
Currently, Adidas has several concurrent logos depending on the product line. This includes: the horizontal across a trefoil (Adidas Originals), curved across a circle (Adidas Style) or the diagonal mountain above the brand name (Adidas Performance).
