subject: Air Jordan - Radio Controlled Digital Watch - Wide Leather Watches [print this page] Air Jordan I Air Jordan I
Designed by Peter Moore and released in 1985, the Air Jordan I pair of sneakers was considered a breakthrough in basketball shoe design, although its design was improved upon later with the Nike Dunk. The shoe initially gained a great deal of publicity and interest when the shoe during games because its vibrant black and red color violated the league's uniform rules and when Michael was fined five thousand dollars every time he wore the shoes during a game. Nonetheless, other companies scrambled to emulate the design and introducing knock-off brands of the Air Jordan line. In 1994 the Air Jordan 1 was re-released with dismal success. The retro Jordan 1s were released in 2009.
Air Jordan II
The Air Jordan II model was released after Jordan's second year in the NBA. The Air Jordan II featured high quality Italian leather and its design was inspired from a 19th century Italian woman's boot. The original 2s were produced in Italy. These were the only shoes from the Air Jordan line to not originally be released in a black color placement. Reintroduced in its original color scheme in 2004 (black, white, and red), a new black/silver colorway was released as well as a Carmelo Anthony colorway of white, Carolina Blue, and yellow. It has been rumored that Jordan would release a Varsity Red and White shoe. Though very rare, these do exist. The Air Jordan II shoe was also the first Nike sneaker to not feature the Nike swoosh logo. They were featured briefly in the movie School Daze. The Air Jordan II was actually released during the 87-88 NBA season. This is Jordan's third year in the league, as he wore the Air Jordan I for his first two years. The shoe also has a limited edition, Eminem Jordan Retro 2, which included lyrics on the shoe. There were only 313 pairs sold due to 313 being Detroit's area code.
Air Jordan III
The Air Jordan III was designed by Tinker Hatfield. It was the first Air Jordan to feature a visible air unit on the heel, the new Jumpman logo, an elephant print trim, and tumble leather for a luxury look. The Air Jordan III were also famous for the humorous ads depicting Spike Lee as Mars Blackmonhe character he played in his film 'She's Gotta Have It'. This campaign was known as "Mars and Mike" ad campaign, which still holds the title today as one of Nike's most successful advertisement campaigns. These were the first Jordans to feature the "NIKE AIR" logo on the back, but later replaced by the Jumpman logo, with the words "AIR" underneath it, similar to the Air Jordan VI. These were said to be Michael Jordan's favorite shoes, he wore them during the 1988 Dunk Championship (which he won) and many other historical events in his basketball career. The Air Jordan 3 also is one of the most famous shoes in the Air Jordan lineup. On many polls, the Air Jordan 3 finishes as the greatest sneaker of all time.
The Air Jordan III's had poor sales when first retro'ed in 1994. However when they were re-retro'ed they sold out instantly. A pair of the Air Jordan III model can be sold for over 300 dollars on various sites, one in particular being eBay. The long awaited "Fire Red" Air Jordan III was released in March 2007. The original Air Jordan III had the "NIKE AIR" logo on the back. Nike replaced it with the Jumpman logo on recent Air Jordan models such as the "Black Cats" or the "Pure Moneys."
In 2007, Jordan brand collaborated with director Spike Lee to release a limited pair of Air Jordan III's in a special colorway to resemble the Do The Right Thing movie poster.
2007 also saw the retroed versions of the Air Jordan III's in two monotone colorways, all black and all white, nicknamed the "Black Cats" and the "Pure Moneys" respectively.
2007 also had the "Flips" which moved the elephant print from the trim to the entire shoe and replacing it with white leather, indeed "Flipping" the original design of white leather with elephant print trim.
In 2009 Jordan Brand will be re-retroing the highy sought after Air Jordan 3 in the True Blue colourway. It has been confirmed that they will be an international-only release, meaning the US will not be selling them in stores. The sole and mid-sole in these shoes take part in the inspiration of the Jordan Spiz'ike, inspired by the Mars Blackmon character.
Air Jordan IV
The Air Jordan IV shoe was first released in 1989, designed once again by Tinker Hatfield. It became the first Jordan shoe released on the global market, with some exceptions. The Air Jordan IV cushioning sole and design helped to make the shoe an international bestseller.
Spike Lee, the director/actor who helped in the ad campaign for the Air Jordan III, created the Can/Can't TV commercial. Lee also featured the Air Jordan IV in his movie Do The Right Thing in a scene where the character "Buggin Out" (played by Giancarlo Esposito) angrily confronts a bicyclist who accidentally bumps into him and scuffs his Air Jordan IV shoes. After the confrontation, Buggin Out promptly places his shoe on a fire hydrant and cleans it with a toothbrush.
The shoe was retroed in 1999 in a white/black colorway and a black/cement colorway, and stores were sold out of Air Jordan IV within hours of release. However, when Nike released the first Retro+ of the Air Jordan IV, many fans of the shoe claimed that the company had "destroyed a classic" by removing the nets on the shoe along with making some other subtle changes. One example being "NIKE AIR" logo featured on the back of the shoe being replaced with the Jumpman logo.
In 2006, Nike released several variations of the Air Jordan IV, including "Mars Blackmons" ("Red" IV's with Spike Lee's alter ego on the heel), "Military Blues" , and the $500 "Thunder and Lightning" package. Also released the Mist blue color and all white and all black.
These particular variations of the shoe also takes part in the inspiration of the Air Jordan Spiz'ike (the shoe's side-lace strap)and the Nike Yeezy, a shoe designed by Kanye West.
Air Jordan V
The original Air Jordan V was released in February 1990, again designed by Hatfield. Some elements were the same from the Air Jordan IV, but the Air Jordan V's most distinctive feature is arguably its reflective tongue. There was also another innovation: clear rubber soles. The soles gave the shoe a whole new and unique look, but it yellowed over time when exposed to moisture. To combat this problem, collectors stored the shoes in a cool, dry place with a desiccant at the soles, most commonly silica packs
The Air Jordan V also featured a base top with lace locks, making strapping on the shoe easy. The lacelock feature partly inspired the Air Jordan Spiz'ike. The Air Jordan V model is considered to have the best structure and design to wear during basketball games and sold the most pairs of shoes from the Air Jordan line.
Hatfield is believed to have drawn inspiration for the Air Jordan V from the World War II Mustang fighter plane; which is most notably visible in the shark teeth shapes on the midsole. The Air Jordan V was retroed in 2000 to great demand, including a new colorway featuring Michael Jordan's high school (Laney High) colors. In 2006 several re-retro V's had released including the very popular LS "Grape" V's, the LS "burgundy" V's, the popular "Fire-Red" V's, the "Green Bean" V's, and "Stealth Blue" V's. Along with the latter, a very limited laser design and the black/metallic/fire red colorways were released in early 2007.
In the month of May 2009, Air Jordan confirmed the release of an "DMP II" consisting of two Air Jordan V's. In March, there has been recent picture leaks of this product, which is also referred as "The Raging Bull" Package. The most of the leaked pictures are of the first Jordan V color way which consist of a composition of buttery varsity red suede on the upper. Paired alongside the eye-catching color is black on the midsole, lace area, tongue and a crystal-clean sole and the classic 3M material tongue..The second color way features a 3M material base with black laces and midsole. The retail price was $310.
Air Jordan VI
The Air Jordan VI was released in late 1990 and designed by Tinker Hatfield. Jordan won his first NBA Championship wearing these sneakers. These sneakers were originally designed for the former N enzel Harris, but were later taken off the market due to lack of sales.
In 2000 an Olympic colorway was released with a mixture of white, royal blue, and a hint of red (lacelocks) to symbolize the U.S.A. colors.
In 2008 a second Olympic colorway was released that consisted of an all-white patent leather upper, black tongue, and all of the Olympic rings' colors on the midsole. On the toebox of the shoe is an embroidered Chinese flower as a symbol of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
To celebrate the defining moment of Jordan first championship Nike released a commemorative Black/Gold Air Jordan 6 packaged with a White/Black/Gold Jordan 11 sold as the efining Moments Package. It was released on January 28, 2006 and sold for $295.00.
The entire tongue, and part of the lace locks of the Jordan VI were inspiration for the Air Jordan Spiz'ike. The lace locks and back tab of the Jordan VI were also inspiration for the Air Jordan "Six Rings".
Air Jordan VII
The Air Jordan VII was released in late 1991. Tinker Hatfield created the Air Jordan VII which had many similarities with the Air Jordan VI model. The Air Jordan VII was unique because it used some of the Nike Huarache technology to create a shoe that really stuck to the consumer's foot. The visible air sole, the Nike Air logo, and the yellowing soles all were no longer featured on the Air Jordan VII. The Air Jordan VII model is also commonly known as the "Hares" because the commercials promoting the shoe featured cartoon character Bugs Bunny.
When Jordan went to compete at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to play for the US Men's Basketball Team (also known as the "Dream Team"), Nike released a special Olympic color combo of the Air Jordan VII model which featured Jordan's Olympic jersey number, 9 while all of the previous Air Jordan models that featured his jersey number had always been the number 23.
Various retros of the Air Jordan VII were released in 2002, again in 2004, and again with different colors in 2006. Also in 2008 Nike released a black and blue pair owned only by Cheikh Mback, ordered for $600.[citation needed]
Air Jordan VIII
The Air Jordan VIII was released to coincide with the 1992-1993 NBA season.
The eighth model of the Air Jordan was noticeably heavier than its predecessors. Its base was clearly close to that of the Air Jordan VII model, but it had a lot more details, including two crossover straps on each shoe and a furry Jumpman logo. Thus the Air Jordan VIII model became known as the "flower-power Air Jordan". This shoe was only made in three different color combinations. The shoes were produced in less quantity than the VII. The Air Jordan VIII was re-retroed in September 2007 in its aqua and black/red color along with a navy and orange and a white and orange colorway.
Air Jordan IX
Originally released in November 1993, the Air Jordan IX model was the first Air Jordan model release after his retirement. It is noted that Michael Jordan has never played a full season of NBA Basketball wearing these sneakers. This model was created in the form of baseball cleats that Jordan used when playing minor-league baseball.
The white/black version of the Air Jordan IX model was worn by Jordan for one scene in the 1996 movie Space Jam.
Like the Air Jordan VIIs and VIII model's, the Air Jordan IX model featured an inner sock sleeve and nubuck accents. The sole featured different symbols and languages of different countries.
The Air Jordan IX has been the shoe chosen to adorn Jordan's feet for his statue outside of the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
In popular culture, in the children's movie The Little Rascals one of the bullies chasing Alf Alfa and Spanky is wearing a pair of Air Jordan IX.
American Rap Icon Tupac Shakur was also known to wear Air Jordans in a popular "Thug Life" photo set in 1993.
Air Jordan X
The Air Jordan X represents an important landmark in Jordan's basketball career. This represents Jordan's first retirement from the NBA. Inscribed on the soles of the shoes is a list of Jordan's accomplishments up to 1993. The list of accomplishments is as follows (1985-1994):
85 ROOKIE OF YEAR 86 63 POINTS 87 SCORING TITLE 88 DUNK CHAMP 89 ALL DEFENSE 90 SCORES 63 POINTS 91 MVP/CHAMPIONSHIP 92 MVP/CHAMPIONSHIP 93 MVP/CHAMPIONSHIP 94 BEYOND
This shoe was also known as "the comeback sneaker" because while the Air Jordan X was in the production stages, Jordan was seemingly finished with basketball and had taken up the game of baseball. But as baseball went on strike, Jordan was left with nothing to do and decided to return to the game he had dominated for so many years. He returned to the game of basketball on March 19, 1995 wearing the Air Jordan X, but unlike many other of his shoes which had the number 23 engraved in them, the X had the number 45 on them because Jordan was forced to wear the number 45 because his old number 23 had been retired.
Air Jordan XI
The Air Jordan XI model was designed by Tinker Hatfield. While Jordan was still pursuing a career in baseball, Hatfield designed the shoe in hopes that Michael would eventually wear it if he returned to the NBA.
The Jordan XI was meant to stand out with a fusion of performance and style. Taken from the world of high-end mountaineering backpacks, the condura nylon upper gave the Air Jordan XI model lightweight durability. Further innovation came with the use of a carbon fiber plate on the sole of the shoe, that can be seen underneath the clear outsole, which gave the shoe exceptional torsional rigidity. The most visually distinct aspect of the shoe was its shiny patent leather mid and toebox. A material long used in the fashion industry, patent leather was extremely lightweight, when compared to genuine leather, and also tended not to stretch - a very useful property to help keep the foot within the bounds of the shoebed during quick direction changes on the court. The shiny leather gave the XI what many described as a "formal" look - a fact that many owners of the shoe took advantage of thereafter, pairing the shoe off the court with business suits in substitution for dress shoes. Boyz II Men wore black and white Air Jordan XI shoes with white suits at one of their concerts.
Jordan wore the Air Jordan XI model to help the Chicago Bulls claim the 1995-1996 NBA championship. The legacy of the shoe was transferred to the silver screen as Jordan wore a black/white/royal blue colorway of the Air Jordan XI model in the 1996 Warner Bros. animated movie "Space Jam" (these shoes were eventually released in 2001 with the tag name "Space Jams") which was then fined for $5,000 for not respecting the Bulls colorway policy.
Air Jordan XII
The Air Jordan XII was inspired by "Nisshoki", (the Japanese flag) and a 19th century womans' dress boot. Initial public perception was a disappointment. However, featuring gold-plated steel lace loops, embossed lizard skin pattern and zoom air, this model set a new direction in style and technology in shoe design. Though not as light in weight as previous models, the construction and firmness of the shoe is widely considered to be the most durable and sturdy shoes from the Air Jordan line ever made. This shoe known as "OG's' came in 5 colorways and was released on March 13. The shoe was released on December 25, 2008 with the Eleven as the final countdown pack. In addition, the Twelve was combined with the Thirteen numbered Jordan to produce the 12.5. As of today, the 11/12 countdown package (retro) retails for $400$550, well above the starting price of $310.
Air Jordan XIII
The Air Jordan XIII's were released in 1997. This model was designed by Tinker Hatfield and were known for its cushioning along with allowing one's feet to breathe while wearing them. They were re-released in 2005, which coincided with the release of the Air Jordan XX shoe. These were the last Retros wore as a Chicago Bull. The inspiration for the XIIIs were based on the Black Panther, If you look at the bottoms, the sole looks like a panthers paw. Alike the Air Jordan XI and XII, there are a pair of Air Jordan's very similar to another, one consisting of blue and gray, and one blue and white.
Air Jordan XIV
The Air Jordan XIV (14) was released in 1998/1999.
This was the very last Air Jordan model that Michael would sport in NBA before his retirement. On January 13th, 1999, Michael announced his retirement from the NBA basketball for the second time.
Retired in style The design was inspired by Michaels car, the Ferrari 550 M, and was made by Tinker Hatfield together with Mark Smith. A great stylish design and a great shoe for Michael to end his NBA career in.
This was the first Air Jordan that would feature laces with metal tips. Something that both the XV's and XVI's designs also would use.
14 = XIV The XIV's also begun the trend of having a number of things that would count towards the model# of the shoe. On the XIV's each shoe had seven jumpmans; ferrari-like shield, insole, sole, back, 2 x lacetip and front. Counting them on both shoes makes it a total of 14 (XIV) Jumpmans.
Air Jordan XV
The Air Jordan XV (15) was released in 1999/2000.
This was it. The first shoe after Michael's retirement. It could't have been easy for Nike/JB to decide to release a shoe when the athlete that was 100% connected to this product had just retired. But the decision turned out to be good.
Prada rip-off or original flying design The design of the XV's originated from the air craft X-15 which was developed by NASA during the 1950's and was, to say the least, a bit radical.
The tongue of the shoe was sticking out in a style that very much made your thoughts go directly to Michael himself and his tongue sticking out. The sides of the shoe were in a woven pattern.
Many people said this was a rip-off of a Prada shoe when it comes to the red stripe at the back of the shoe. Maybe the Prada shoes were inspiration sources for Hatfield as well, but that's very uncertain.
Air Jordan XVI
The Air Jordan XVI (16) was released in 2001.
Following the success of the XV's there was no doubt that Nike/JB would continue to release Air Jordan's. The XVI's were the next shoe to hit the shelfs. The XVI's were designed by Nike's Senior Footwear Designer Wilson Smith. This meaning it was the first design since the III's that Tinker Hatfield wasn't behind. Hatfield was said to have moved up and he left Smith with the hard task in creating a revolutionary new design. Smith decided to bring in a few design elements/fabrics from earlier releases. For instance we saw the return of the clear rubber sole (V, VI, XI) and they also featured patent leather (XI). But what made the XVI's unique was the brand new gaiter/shroud that covered the shoe and that could be removed to
