NIKE AIR JORDAN SNEAKERS

About Air Jordans

In 1984, the NBA was overtaken by a young player with a promised future. Michael Jordan had been a remarkably talented player since his first season and Nike risked it all on the young sportsman and negotiated a particular contract with Jordan to make his sneakers. Up until then, Jordan had ironically worn Adidas but after meeting with the executives had been inspired by the offer from the little known brand.

At the beginning of 1984, the first Sneaker Air Jordan I was manufactured and released to the public at the end of 1984. The NBA outlawed the original shoes because they were too colourful at a time when all shoes had a compulsory colour scheme of white with their famous red and Schwarz features. The first emblem of Air Jordan was distinctively different from what is now well known. Now known as the O.G. logo or the Wings logo, a basketball with wings on each side and the Air Jordan on the ball were printed on the original sneakers. From his entrance into the NBA, Michael Jordan was the first NBA player to connect to a product. The public wanted to own a piece of the player, due to his stellar on court performances and ever growing popularity and this drove sales to an all time high for Nike and Jordan Brand.

An improved design with new features has come every couple of years. The Air Jordan III, published in 1988 and included in the 1988 competition of Slam Dunk, was reported over the years as Jordan’s favourite of all styles. Many Air Jordan individual pairs, which Jordan has worn during games have been sold or donated over the years to charities.

The Air Jordan 12 ‘Flu Game “pair worn by Jordan during an NBA final game in 1997 in which he felt sick because of food poisoning but won the game, was sold for $104,000US dollars and the design itself sold quickly after it was released again.

Over the past 36 years, the Air Jordan range has had many high-profile collaborations with brand such as UNDEFEATED and Supreme. In recent years, collaborative efforts  with other big brands have created more hype and attention for the brand. Jordan brand shoes co-designed or recreated by  Virgil Abloh’s OFF-WHITE brand, famous rapper Travis Scott, Drake’s OVO, and UNION LA have ensured the popularity and relevance of the brand in popular culture. Furthermore NBA athletes such as Ray Allen, Mike Bibby, Carmelo Anthony and Russell Westbrook have both received special Friends & Family and Player Exclusive (PE) pairs as well as released signature sneakers of their own under Jordan Brand.

The popularity of the Jordan brand has remained at a high level due to the various collaborations they have done over the years as well as their significance with athletes, celebrity fashion and of course the recent release of the Netflix documentary ‘THE LAST DANCE’. Nike has always been the pioneer of the Michael Jordan story, their impact on culture remains unchanged as they continue to impact the generations that celebrate the history behind the sneakers.