Air Jordan is a line of basketball and sportswear shoes produced by Nike, Inc. The shoes, related apparel and accessories are now marketed under Jordan Brand. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls on November 17, 1984, and released to the public on April 1, 1985. The shoes were designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore. The brand's logo, known as the "Jumpman", originated from a photograph by Co Rentmeester that was taken before Jordan played for Team USA in the 1984 Summer Olympics.
History As Michael Jordan entered his rookie year in 1984, he was approached to sign a shoe deal with Adidas, Converse, and Nike. In their meeting with Jordan, Nike centered its presentation around a highlight video of Jordan's various slam dunks, scored to "Jump (For My Love)" by the Pointer Sisters. Nike showcased the first design of the shoe, but Jordan criticized its colorway. While other companies saw Jordan as a figure for promoting preexisting shoe lines, Nike took Jordan's criticism into account to make him "a stand alone star and give him a signature shoe line."
On October 26, 1984, Jordan signed a six-year, $2.5 million deal with Nike, three times more than any other deal in the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the time. In addition, Jordan would get royalties from products sold by Nike with his name, which was at the time considered an industry disruptive move. Nike released the Air Jordan sneaker line in April 1985 with the goal of making $3 million in the first three years. Sales greatly exceeded expectations, earning $126 million in one year.
NBA policy stated that the shoes must be 51% white and consistent with the shoes that the rest of the team wore. Failure to follow this policy resulted in a $5,000 fine per game (). Nike designed the Air Jordan I based on the Chicago Bulls' red and black team colors with only 23% white, which violated the NBA's policy. Nike agreed to pay each fine, garnering both controversy and publicity around the shoe. Fines imposed by the NBA on Jordan for wearing the shoes bestowed upon them an iconic brand and was later regarded as groundbreaking in part due to its defiance of NBA regulations. Nike also took advantage of this marketing opportunity with the Air Jordan I "Banned" advertisement, which stated "On September 15th, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game." The shoe sold out of the initial 50,000 pairs and ultimately generated more than $150 million in sales.
In 1997, Jordan and Nike introduced Jordan Brand (originally called "Brand Jordan"). The brand has built a sustainable business model by releasing Air Jordan shoes and apparel, and collaborating with popular artists. In 2022 alone, Jordan Brand brought in $5.1 billion to Nike. Of that, a reported $150–256 million went directly to Jordan under his royalties deal with Nike.
Logo
The "Jumpman" logo originated from a photo shoot Michael Jordan did for Life magazine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus before he played for Team USA in the 1984 Summer Olympics, photographed by Co Rentmeester. Jordan posed in a manner identical to the grand jeté ballet technique, while holding a basketball with his left hand, and wearing his Olympic jumpsuit and New Balance shoes. Moore, who was in charge of the design team, came across this Life magazine issue and had Jordan replicate the pose, this time in Chicago and wearing his Bulls uniform and Nike Air Jordan shoes. The "Jumpman" logo has developed and gone through different changes and can be seen on sneakers, attire, hats, socks, and other forms of wear. It has become one of the most recognizable logos in the athletics industry.
Models ModelYearNotes Air Jordan I 1984 The first Air Jordan was produced for use by Michael Jordan in November 1984. They were designed by Peter B. Moore, and released during Jordan's sophomore season with the Chicago Bulls. The Jordan 1 Royal was never worn by Michael Jordan on an NBA court. The black and red Air Jordan 1 has been re-released several times, starting in 1994.
The red and black colorway of the Nike Air Ship, the prototype for the Jordan I, was later outlawed by then-NBA Commissioner David Stern for having very little white on them. (This rule, known as the "51 percent" rule, was repealed in the late 2000s.) Air Jordan II 1986 The success of the Air Jordan I encouraged Nike to release a new Air Jordan in 1986 for the new basketball season. Designed by Peter Moore and Bruce Kilgore, the Air Jordan II was originally made in Italy. In early tests, Michael Jordan wore a prototype that fused the upper of the original Air Jordan with the cushioning being designed for the new model. The Air Jordan II featured a full-length Air-Sole unit and a polyurethane midsole. The shoe bore a similar silhouette to the Nike Air Python that would release the following year. It featured a faux lizard skin and swooping lines that resembled the detailing of a sports car. This design aesthetic would factor into the Air Jordan line later in the series. The Air Jordan II was the first Jordan not to have the Nike swoosh on the upper, though "Nike" was stitched across the heel counter. Michael Jordan wore the Air Jordan II for a shortened 18 games in the 1985–86 season due to a broken foot. It had several re-releases as the Jordan 2 Retro. Air Jordan III 1988 The Air Jordan III featured the debut of the Jumpman logo. Jordan Brand reintroduced the Air Jordan III in the True Blue colorway as an international-only release in 2009. On February 15, 2020, a "Red Cement" version was released in celebration of Chicago, Illinois hosting the 2020 NBA All-Star Game. The brand also debuted a Chicago-exclusive version of the colorway. This pair features "Nike Chi" branding on the heel, replacing the traditional "Nike Air" branding. Air Jordan IV 1989In December 1988, Nike released the Air Jordan IV to the public. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, it was the first Air Jordan released on the global market. It had four colorways: White/Black, Black/Cement Grey, White/Fire Red-Black, and Off White/Military Blue. Nike featured director and actor Spike Lee in ads for the shoe. Lee had featured the shoe in his movie Do The Right Thing.
Michael Jordan wore the Air Jordan IV when he made "The Shot", a series winner in Game 5 of the 1989 NBA First Round between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2012 a Cavalier colorway dubbed the "Cavs" was released to honor "The Shot". Air Jordan V 1990The Air Jordan V was released in February 1990 and designed by Hatfield. Inspired by a WWII Mustang fighter, features include a reflective tongue with a protruding design, translucent rubber soles and lace locks.
The Air Jordan V saw a lot of use in popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. During many episodes Will Smith wore the Metallic Silver, Grape, and Fire Red colorways. To pay tribute to his character, Jordan released the Air Jordan 5 Bel Air in 2013 and 2020. Air Jordan VI 1991 Designed after a German sports car, Michael Jordan wore the VI for his first Bulls championship. The shoes were worn by the protagonist of the manga Slam Dunk, Hanamichi Sakuragi. In 2014, Nike released special versions of the VI featuring artwork from the series. Various other models in the Air Jordan line are featured in the series, including the original Air Jordan, the V, and the XII. Air Jordan VII 1992 The Air Jordan VII introduced "huarache" technology which allowed the shoes to better conform to the user's foot. A few things were no longer featured on the new model, such as the visible air sole, the Nike Air logo, and the translucent soles. This was the first Air Jordan in the line that did not have any distinctive "Nike Air" branding on the outer portions of the shoe, only on the in-soles.
When Jordan went to compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics to play for the US Men's Basketball Team (also known as the "Dream Team"), Nike released a special Olympic color combo of the Air Jordan VII model which had Jordan's Olympic jersey number 9, instead of the usual "23" found on other colorways.
Various models of the Air Jordan VII were re-released beginning with its 10-year anniversary in 2002. Air Jordan VIII 1993 The Air Jordan VIII was released to coincide with the 1992–93 NBA season. The eighth model of the Air Jordan contains a full-length air sole, polyurethane midsole, polycarbonate shank plate, and two crossover straps. The VIIIs were known for a successful ad campaign in which Bugs Bunny appeared alongside Michael Jordan to market the shoes. Since their initial release in 1993 and rerelease in 2003, Jordan Brand continues to produce new and classic colorways of the shoe as of 2025. Air Jordan IX 1993 Originally released in November 1993, the Air Jordan IX was the first model released after Michael Jordan's retirement. Jordan never played an NBA season wearing these shoes. This model was inspired by baseball cleats that Jordan wore when playing minor-league baseball. The shoe was re-released in 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014–2018.
Like the VII and VIII models, the Air Jordan IX featured an inner sock sleeve and nubuck accents. The sole featured different symbols and languages of different countries. The Air Jordan IX is depicted to be worn by the Statue of Michael Jordan inside the United Center in Chicago. Air Jordan X 1994 This was released in different colors representing U.S. cities. It was the first Air Jordan to feature a lightweight Phylon midsole. The shoe also featured all of Michael Jordan's accomplishments up to his first retirement on the outsole.
The shoe was re-released in 2005, 2008, 2012–2016, and 2018. Air Jordan XI 1995 This model was designed by Tinker Hatfield. When the shoe launched, Michael Jordan (retired from basketball by then) was with the Birmingham Barons in baseball's minor baseball leagues. Hatfield designed the sneaker waiting for Jordan to come back and hoping he would play in them.
The ballistic mesh upper of the sneaker was meant to make the Air Jordan XI lighter and more durable. Further changes came with the use of a carbon fiber spring plate in the translucent outsole, giving the shoe better torque when twisting on the court. The best-known aspect of the shoe is its patent leather mudguard. Patent leather was lightweight compared to genuine leather and also tended not to stretch as much – a property to help keep the foot within the bounds of the foot bed during directional changes on the court. The patent leather gave the XI a "formal" look. When this shoe released, some wore this model with business suits instead of dress shoes.
The sneakers were only samples in 1995 when Jordan decided to come back to the NBA. Hatfield and Nike discouraged Jordan from playing in them, but once they were produced, he couldn't resist. Also noteworthy, Jordan violated league dress code by wearing the shoes, as his teammates wore all-black shoes. It wasn't the first time Jordan had run afoul of NBA footwear rules, having broken them with his very first signature shoe in 1985. He was fined $5,000 for not following the Bulls' colorway policy with the AJ XI. After the fine, Nike made him a pair of the shoes in a black/white/concord colorway for the series against Orlando; Jordan wore Penny Hardaway's signature black Nike Air Flight shoes for Game 3 while said colorway was under production. A similar black/white/royal blue colorway was released to the public at the end of 2000. The colorway was changed for the public release because the concord purple had looked like royal blue on television.