Air Jordans have defined the history and development of sneakers, from their design and decoration to the culture and following surrounding them. The original Air Jordan sneakers were produced for Michael Jordan exclusively but were soon made available to the public after they skyrocketed to fame on his feet due to the young basketball player’s talent and success on the court. The fact that the NBA banned sneakers that weren’t all-white also contributed to this success and Nike even modelled a colourway after the decision by the NBA to fine MJ for each appearance in the sneakers – thus the Air Jordan 1 “Banned” was born! Since the iconic emergence of the Air Jordan 1 back in the 1980s which launched the entire sneaker industry, the brand has brought out 34 silhouettes and countless colourways.
Interestingly, the industry defining collab nearly didn’t happen! Jordan was originally envisioning a collab with Adidas and even Converse were attempting to sign a deal with the up-and-coming rookie! But Nike made an offer well above and beyond what either of the other two brands were willing to match, at $500,000 a year and his own exclusive sneaker brand. They also designed the now famous Air Jordan Wings logo – featuring a basketball with wings – based on MJ’s ability to “fly” on the court.
A pivotal moment in the development of Air Jordans came in 1998 during the NBA All-Stars Weekend Dunk Championship when MJ launched himself from the free-throw line to slam dunk the ball straight into the net. This moment became iconic in basketball history, and on Jordan’s feet sat a brand-new pair of Air Jordan 3s, which flew off the shelves after this historic dunk. The Air Jordan 3s were the first to ditch the Wings logo in favour of the dunk “Jumpman” logo featuring a silhouette of MJ in a ballet-style jump for an attempted dunk, ball in hand.
By the early 90s Jordan was a household name and the success of the Air Jordan 3 had boosted the popularity of all Air Jordan silhouettes. Air Jordans could be found on the feet of street ball players in the Bronx and rich celebrities in Beverly Hills. Will Smith, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, rocked a pair of Black/Metallic Silver Air Jordan 5s for much of season one and can even be seen sporting them in the opening sequence! He also famously wears an Air Jordan 5 “Grape” pair in a season one dream sequence in which he imagines himself as a professional basketball player with his own sneaker line. The show has also included Air Jordan 6s, 7s, 9s, and 11s, along with countless other classic Nike silhouettes.