It’s the Shoes
Nike’s Air Jordan 1 legacy has carried long after its original creator retired 16 years ago.
The Air Jordan 1 was created for Michael Jordan. He became a Nike athlete in 1984. At first he didn’t want to sign with Nike (he liked Chuck Taylors from Converse), but Nike promised to make a shoe line with him as the focal point.
In a 1985 preseason game at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Nike had Jordan wearing the first model Jordan 1. The most controversial aspect of the shoe was the color.
It was during this time that basketball players were mandated to wear shoes that did not clash with the colors of the team uniform. The NBA (National Basketball Association) fined Jordan $5000 a game for breaking the league’s rule. Nike took this opportunity to publicize how special the shoes were with commercials and naming the color way of the shoes as the banned ones.
The NBA’s rejection of the shoes only allowed the shoe to gain prominence among casual and non casual fans. Nike also released limited quantities of the shoe.
Making the shoes a coveted item.
Besides the appearance of the shoe, what made the Air Jordan 1 truly unique was the technology behind it. The Air Jordan 1 was the first sneaker that incorporated Nike Air technology. It allowed Jordan to have comfort without losing feeling of the court.
It was with this blend of functionality and style that allowed the Jordan 1 to be worn by anyone from entertainment to casual fans.
This photo here perfectly depicts the sneaker culture which exist because of Michael Jordan. This type of Jordan 1 is known as the Cactus Jack. This sneaker was created by Jordan brand with collaboration from the rapper Travis Scott.
Most importantly, as you can see here, it’s being worn by a baseball player named Clint Frazier who plays for the New York Yankees.
This blend of entertainment industries depicts not only the respect athletes and musicians have for each other, but rather the cohesiveness that can exists within the world of entertainment.
With the immense success of the Jordan 1, Nike continues to make more shoes with Jordan. Thus leading him to have his own separate brand within Nike. To this day new iterations of Jordans are being made for athletes who are sponsored by the company.
As of recently Nike has stretched into the world of high end fashion and have asked artists such as Virgil Abloh and high end fashion companies such as Supreme and Undercover to collaborate and make Nike’s clothing line fashionable. This enables them to expand their brand and reach a large audience.
Above is a photo of a Jordan 1 which has been deconstructed. This is the work of Virgil Abloh in collaboration with Nike. This shoe is called the Off White One’s. Once a sacred sneaker model, is now constructed in a matter in which appeases to a new demographic.
The Jordan 1 has became a vehicle which has allowed Nike to enter a field of fashion in which they never intended to be. Nike has been known to be a company which values functionality over practicality. But now, with people wearing fashionable sweatpants and sweaters, it has allowed Nike not to deviate what it was intended to be.
This sneaker is not only fashionable, but it is also profitable. This shoe in particular retailed for $190, now it’s reselling for upwards of $4000. That’s a 2,005 percent increase.
Jordan’s net worth today is well over a billion dollars. Largely in part of the success of the logo and the cultural significance it has created. What Jordan brand has now become is not just a brand but a lifestyle, in which one does not have to compromise function over fashion.
