25 YEARS AFTER MICHAEL JORDAN’S TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL (THE FIRST TIME, THAT IS), NIKE IS RELEASING AN UPDATED AND LIMITED EDITION VERSION OF THE FOREVER CLASSIC AIR JORDAN XI

BY ARCHANA AITHAL ROSE

In the great canon of athlete endorsed footwear, there are so few precious compositions that have found a way to transcend their original form of sport and fashion in order to become something even more vital…Then there is Nike and Air Jordan. Michael Jordan and Nike first joined forces way back in 1985 a collaboration that began with the production of the Air Jordan 1, and neither party had any idea just how fast these shoes would catapult to international superstardom. Simply put, Jordans are art; they have become the zeitgeist for multiple generations past, present, and future.

The AJ XIs made their worldwide debut 25 years ago, adorning the magic feet of their eponymous creator as he made an unlikely (yet fully Jordan esque) return to professional basketball after his first retirement. He brought his struggling Chicago Bulls back by winning 24 of the final 34 games on the schedule, making it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals in the process. Minor mods to this classic sneaker include Nike Adapt Technology, an app based self lacing system that adjusts to the shape of your foot, plus other small design tweaks, but the essence and power felt when wearing them remains the same.

Air Jordan XI Adapt nike.com