How the Jordan 1 Became the Sneaker of a Generation

Table Of Content

• Before Nike
• Ben Affleck Rewears Air Jordan Travis Scott ‘Reverse Mocha’ Sneaker Grails in Los Angeles
• Air Jordan 1 Retros/“Remastered Series”
• Discover more from Sneaker History - Podcasts, Footwear News & Sneaker Culture
• Virgil Abloh’s Best Sneaker Designs
• Talking WNBA Sneakers
• Nike Book 1 “Rattlesnake” Releases May 2024

Only the OG “Chicago” and “Bred” colorways returned in 1994, but since 2001 when it came back again the Air Jordan 1 has returned almost every year in multiple colorways and forms. Air Jordan 1 KOThe canvas-constructed Air Jordan 1 KO from 1986 is perhaps the greatest mystery of the entire Air Jordan line. Nobody can even confirm that ‘KO’ stands for “knockout”, but most would agree that it indeed does and the shoe was designed as a nod to the sport of boxing. Whatever the case, what we do know is that along with the canvas build, other modifications included “AJKO” in place of “Air Jordan” on the wings logo and the use of the Nike Vandal’s sole instead of the usual AJ1 tooling. We’re not sure how nobody seems to be able to shed any light on the origins of the Air Jordan 1 KO, but we’re definitely glad it exists. The Legend BeginsEverything had to work out exactly the way it did for the Air Jordan 1 to exist.

The Air Jordan 1 Low OG 'Year of the Dragon' Edition - DSCENE MAGAZINE

The Air Jordan 1 Low OG 'Year of the Dragon' Edition.

Posted: Wed, 24 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Before Nike

An over-the-top shoe with a flashy colorway and high-cut silhouette was meant for the gravity-defying, electrifying basketball player that was Michael Jordan. Winning the Rookie of the Year honors, becoming an All-Star in his mere rookie year (a rare feat), and the leading the league in scoring in 1985, Jordan took flight early in his career dawning the Air Jordan 1’s, a sight that fans couldn’t resist. Jordan Brand waited until 2001 to try its luck again, this time releasing the shoe in a new mid-top shape.

Ben Affleck Rewears Air Jordan Travis Scott ‘Reverse Mocha’ Sneaker Grails in Los Angeles

Moore sketched out the famous Air Jordan wings on a napkin on a flight, after seeing a kid wear a pair of replica pilot wings. Through this sketch, Moore realized his vision in creating a shoe for a high-flying athlete like Jordan. In sharing and deliberating initial logo and sneaker sketches, Jordan requested for a shoe that was different and exciting to wear. Something revolutionary enough to boost the reputation of Jordan–and even the reputation of Nike. It’s the embodiment of today’s sneaker culture, the jumpstart of Nike as the most dominant sports apparel brand, and the liftoff of Michael Jordan’s illustrious basketball career as the greatest player of all time. We will explore how this shoe took flight 35 years ago and how it still continues to soar as the most iconic sneaker ever.

Air Jordan 1 Retros/“Remastered Series”

Air Jordan 1 Mid Jade Smoke BQ6472-130 - Sneaker Bar Detroit

Air Jordan 1 Mid Jade Smoke BQ6472-130.

Posted: Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Though Jordan was not happy about it, he knew just how important this signature deal would be for his career in the long run. In 1984, after nearly losing him to adidas (and Converse), Phil Knight and the team at Nike signed one of the greatest entertainers of all time, Michael Jordan. MJ’s original contract with Nike was valued at $500,000 per year, an unprecedented amount for any athlete at the time. The potential upside for Michael was that it also offered him stock options.

But Nike was relentless, going so far as to get Jordan’s parents to bring him to the Nike campus in Oregon. Nike did their best to convince him by presenting their plan for Jordan being an entire brand, not just a shoe. But none of that mattered to Jordan as he simply didn’t like Nike’s shoes as the soles were too thick. It was a change that Nike was happy to make, thus creating the legacy of the Air Jordan.

Nike Designer, Peter Moore and the Air Jordan 1

The Air Jordan 39 borrows from the crackled sections that emerged, using engineered embroidery over ballistic mesh to recreate the effect. Greenspan describes that pattern, the physical trace of Jordan’s movement, as the heartbeat of the shoe. The design team zeroed in on Jordan’s cross-step, a move that successive generations of hoopers learned from him.

Like Converse Chuck Taylors, Levi’s 501s, or the Apple iPhone, the Jordan 1 is a classic American invention, its design, form, and function exploding into a cult of personality that is bigger and broader than anyone ever expected. Its popularity created an intrinsic sense of belonging—a lighting rod of hope. The clever details embedded in the shoe’s aesthetics will not do much to enhance its actual on-court performance, of course. For that, Jordan Brand outfitted the Air Jordan 39’s sole with a combination of full-length ZoomX foam—a first for a Jordan shoe—and full-length Zoom Air. The Air Jordan 39’s bootie has 23 perforations on the medial and lateral sides, 39 beneath its vamp, and another nine over the toes. The Air Jordan 39 represents in some ways a change in direction for Jordan Brand.

Talking WNBA Sneakers

Peter Moore, who designed the Air Jordan 1 and played an instrumental role in the birth of the modern sneaker business, has died, according to Insider sources and statements from Nike's Jordan brand and Adidas. After arriving at the Chicago Bulls in 1984, Michael Jordan was hotly tipped to turn the struggling franchise around. Having proved himself as a key player for the University of North Carolina’s Tar Heels, the entire country was watching MJs. He had gained the interest of almost every major sports brand on the planet.

While most of the shoe’s construction resembles the leather-y OG 1, it features some details that give the shoes a loose, exposed, and prototyped feel, most notably, the oversized swoosh that seems loosely stitched on. Another popular collaboration is the Travis Scott Air Jordan 1, which features an inverted swoosh, an unprecedented design choice for Nike shoes. Coming soon is the Air Dior Jordan 1, featuring a swoosh with an all-over “Dior” print and “Air Dior” text that replaces the “Air Jordan” text on the logo. Some viewed these new takes as sacrilege to an already beautifully constructed pair of shoes, while others embraced it for its aesthetic innovations. Some of the most prestigious retros include a variety of colorways, including the “Fragment,” “UNC,” “Chicago,” “Banned,” “Shattered Backboard”–named after the 1’s that Jordan wore when we broke the backboard in a game– and many more.

For Nike, taking such a huge financial risk was given a safety net in the form of one stipulation. If the partnership didn’t result in an ambitious level of $4 million dollars in sales by the end of the third year, they had the right to end the partnership. I was recently taking an afternoon walk in my New York City neighborhood and I noticed a young girl wearing a navy plaid Catholic school uniform paired with navy and white Jordan 1 mid.

Numerous brands have drawn from Italian exports both literally and figuratively in recent... It wasn’t until July that the rest of the country would gain access, and yet the phenomenon was already well under way. Crucially, as depicted in the movie “Air,” Jordan’s mother Gloria insisted that her son also receive a share of the profits from his shoes. The expectation was to sell a total of $3 million worth of sneakers by the end of Jordan’s fourth year. As David Falk, Jordan’s agent from 1984 to 2003, went on to explain in the documentary, Adidas was “dysfunctional” at the time and, as much as it wanted the young star, wouldn’t have been able to give him his own shoe. Converse, which counted Magic Johnson and Larry Bird among its roster, said it wouldn’t prop up Jordan above its existing NBA stars — leaving room for Nike to swoop in despite then being an underdog in the sneaker landscape.

He was often spotted wearing the Nike Air Ship in his rookie season, which would eventually become the shoe that was banned by the NBA. That, of course, didn’t stop Nike from playing on the banned theme when it released the Air Jordan 1 (more on that later). Greenspan presented to Jordan (at his golf course and elsewhere) a number of times as the lead designer on the Air Jordan 39, the upcoming Jordan signature shoe that’s set to release in July for $200. The shoe had more input from Jordan himself than any other of the brand’s signature models in recent memory.