The Air Jordan 1 is one of the most iconic silhouettes of all time – the Bred colorway makes it more special
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Michael Jordan was a household name even before entering into the league – such was his influence. He was one of the first athletes to get a signature lineup of sneakers in the first year of his professional career. The Air Jordan 1, heavily molded on the lines of the Air Ships was an instant hit. Classic lines, beautiful color blocking, and a high cut meant that it ticked all the boxes for sneakerheads as well as basketball players.
The story behind the black and red colorway is an interesting one. The rules for sneakers were very clear at that time: each shoe needed to be predominantly white. But the iconic bred colorway only had white on its midsole, which wasn’t enough for the league. They banned it from making it onto the court and levied heavy fines each time Jordan stepped foot on the court with them.
This story became a crazy marketing campaign that Nike did not have to worry about. Despite having to pay a fine of 5000 dollars each time he played in them, it was an advertisement for those shoes every game for 48 minutes. Sales were through the roof, and has stayed that way ever since. The league has since changed its rules about sneakers and their color patterns, and we’ve seen a variety of wacky colors pop on sneakers.
The Air Jordan 1 is now a cult classic model – on the lines of the Air force 1 and the Nike Dunks
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the resurgence of the Jordan 1 model. Towards the back end of the 00’s Kanye West made it popular again amongst the younger crowd who weren’t old enough to see the Chicago Bulls play. That popularity brought about by Ye earned him a deal with Nike, of which he released two models and practically all of them are grails for any sneaker collector.
Nowadays, there is not one week that goes by without having a new colorway release in the Jordan 1 model. Artists like Travis Scott have added their own spin to it and making bank off it too. The most coveted ones are still the original colors though, the bred leading the pack.
Any model and any shoe of MJ has and will always be a hit. But for whatever reason, the 1 shall be at the top of everyone’s sneaker list, Christmas Wishlist, and probably their wallpaper at some point in their life. Such is the influence of that sneaker, the likes of which no other shoe has come close to. Maybe the Red Octobers from the Yeezy 2 lineup, but that is a story for another day.
