1985 was a great year, not only because Michael Jordan was rookie of the year and played in the All-Star game, but because the Air
Jordan 1 were released. The Air Jordan I was the first shoe to be worn in the NBA with multiple colors. Peter Moore was the man behind the Air
Jordan 1 (and also helped design the Air Jordan II). When Michael Jordan first looked at the AJ I, his response was “I’m not wearing that shoe. I’ll look like a clown”. With time, the shoe slowly grew on him.
Soon after the release of the Air Jordan I, David Stern (Commissioner of the NBA), banned the most popular shoe of the decade to be worn by MJ. Every time Michael stepped on the court with a pair he would have to pay a couple thousand dollars.
Nike loved this idea so much that they encouraged MJ to wear the shoes, and Nike would pay the fees. In result, Nike gave the the
Air Jordan 1 “The shoe banned by the NBA” label. There was 23 different color variations released, and this is not including the three colorways of the
Air Jordan I KO. Each AJ I shoe came with two sets of laces which matched the color combo.
The Air Jordan 1 (I) was designed by Peter Moore and marked a new era in basketball shoewear design. There has been multiple fakes of this shoe and also other shoe brands made models where you could see lots of similarities with Air Jordan 1 (I).
The Air Jordan 1 (I) - Black / Varsity Red model was banned by the NBA back in 1985 due to NBA color rules and this actually helped to create more publicity and interest for the shoes. Who knows, it might have been a marketing trick from Nike.
A great thing with the Original (OG) Air Jordan 1 (I)’s were that they came with a double set of laces to match the two different colors the shoe was made up in. For instance the black/red’s came with one set of black laces and one set of red laces.
When talking about colors it should also be said that the Air Jordan 1 (I)’s were the Air Jordan’s that were released in the most colorways of all Air Jordans. 23 colorways (samples included) even beats the number of Air Jordan 11 (XI) retros.
Retro - demands change
The Air Jordan 1 (I) Retro 1994 - White / Black - Red and black/red were released as retros in 1994 and sold very poorly. Noone seemed to want them. They went on sale for $20 at some stores in the US.
In 2001 they re-retroed them and this time around the demand was a lot greater. At some stores they sold out in just a few minutes. I bet a few of the people buying them was wishing they were around back in ‘94…
Retro hysteria and Nu’Retro
After 2001 Nike/Jordan Brand has gone crazy with releasing retros of all sorts. 2002 saw the Jordan I’s being released as a special Platinum version, with Jumpman’s on the sides.
In 2002 a new concept called Nu’Retro was also released. A modern remake of a classic shoe. I have doubted many times whether or not to put the Nu’Retros on the site, since I have a difficulty making up my mind wheter they are a “real” Air Jordan or not. At present I chose to add them - but they might disappear sometime in the future…
