The Complete History of Air Jordan
Top Jordan Shoes with priceless Egyptian antiques, paintings by some of history’s most important painters, from Claude Monet’s renderings of Europe in oil to Mark Rothko’s earlier work, and all housed in a massive Beaux-Arts landmark, the Brooklyn Museum’s collection stretches from ancient to modern. And now it’s showing off sneakers. The exhibition “The Rise of Sneaker Culture,” which runs though this October, features 150 pairs on display, ranges from the original Converse All Star from 1917 to a pair of gold Pumas; but there’s truly one pair that stands out above all the rest: the black, red, and white Air Jordan 1s from 1985. It might not be the first sneaker, but it’s the pair that spawned a million obsessives.
Air Jordan Shoes, but it’s worth pointing out that in basketball and American sports, Michael Jordan is as close as we get to a living deity besides Muhammad Ali. Serena, Jeter, and even LeBron, who unfairly has to play every game being compared to the No. 23 that came before him, are all great – legends even. But Jordan is above them all, and beyond all the championships and MVPs, the Air Jordan brand is the reason why. The sneakers didn’t necessarily elevate his skill level, but wearing the same shoes as the greatest player on the planet helped the rest of us feel like we had something in common with him, and by extension, his greatness. Nike monetized our awe and adoration for Jordan, itself a revolution by way of fresh annual collections and gear. The Jordan brand became the company’s crown jewel, and the Jumpman logo the Golden Arches of its generation – maybe even a more ubiquitous symbol than the famous Nike Swoosh.
Nike Air Force 1. When Jordan hit the court at the start of the 1985 season in the now-iconic Peter Moore-designed 1s, the NBA thought the sneakers were too loud for the basketball court. Long before one of the first “next Jordan” players, Allen Iverson, was drawing the ire of the basketball establishment for his tattoos and cornrows, Jordan was being fined $5000 a game for wearing the red and black sneakers emblazoned with his name. Easy to spot in the sea of white Converse favored by the Magics and Birds of the era, the shoes weren’t a hit with fans either. By the end of the season you could find them on clearance racks and at discount chains. Of course today you’d be lucky to find them on eBay for less than $1000 dollars, but 30 years ago it was a lot to ask consumers to pay $65 for just one pair.
