Words by @banksy_011
NIKE WENT ALL IN
In 1984, a small company from Beaverton Oregon made the decision to go all in on a 3rd pick player from the 1984 NBA draft. With a decision to focus all their efforts on quality over quantity, rather than investing in multiple athletes, Nike wanted to find 1 exciting player that would allow them to take flight.
Funnily enough, Michael Jordan was initially interested in Adidas, however, Adidas would not match the offer that Nike put forward. In fact, Nike had so much faith in Jordan, they were willing to give a 21-year-old his own brand within Nike before he had officially played in the NBA.
David Stern, then commissioner of the NBA ‘Banned’ the Red and Black ‘Nike Air Ship Pros’ as they violated the NBA’s uniform code. And so, the Air Jordan 1 Chicago was born. A sneaker designed by Peter Moore that was designed to break barriers, be loud and make a statement while conforming to the team colours of red, white and black. On November 17th 1984 Michael Jordan Debuts the Jordan 1 Chicago against the Philadelphia 76ers and sneaker culture would forever be changed.
Michael Jordan completely disrupted the sneaker world for consumers and for sportsmen alike. Before the Jordan 1, sneaker endorsements were as bland as the sneakers the athletes wore. Michael Jordan went on to become the most dominating athlete in sports. Winning Rookie of the year in 1985 and going on to win 6 NBA Championships back-to-back officially coining the phrase ‘Repeat Three Peat’. Paying homage to the sneaker that started it all, Jordan played his last game as a Chicago Bull at madison Square Garden in 1998 in his beloved Chicago 1s and went on to score 42 points against the Knicks.
WHAT HAS IT BECOME?
The Air Jordan 1 Chicago has become the staple sneaker within the sneaker community. The iconic Red White and Black represent a legacy of the greatest to ever do it both on and off the court. They represent everything that is great about belief, hunger, talent and the notion that anything is possible. The Air Jordan 1 Chicago continues to cause more excitement today than it did 38 years ago.
As a long time collector and a fan of the greatest to play the game, the Chicago 1 represents a time in history that we all loved being a part of. They connect us with what we are so passionate about. While there are so many incredible models that represent each of MJ’s years in the NBA, the Chicago takes us back to its roots, it makes us feel like we are part of it.
HISTORY IN A COLOURWAY
The Air Jordan 1 sneaker comes in many popular colour ways, each with their own history, each with a story to tell. Some of the more popular being the Jordan 1 Black and Red or 'Bred' – infamous for the banned commercial and the genius marketing behind it.
There’s also the Jordan 1 Royal, MJ’s favourite of the colourways, although never worn on court. There’s the Jordan 1 UNC, the colourway representing MJ’s beloved college the University of North Carolina. And there’s the Jordan 1 Black Toe, the sneaker MJ was wearing in the picture that became what we know today as the ‘Jumpman’ logo. The list goes on. Even though each colourway has incredible history behind the leather, the Jordan 1 Chicago will easily be the most recognisable colourway of all time.
OVER THE YEARS
The Air Jordan 1 Chicago has been retroed a number of times since it went on sale for the first time in 1985. The first retro took nearly 10 years to release to the public, dropping in 1994, it maintained the Nike Air branding on the tongue and a newly designed box, the 1994 retro was a premium release. As crazy as it may seem, Jordan brand held off from the next retro for nearly 20 years before it would next release in 2013. This retro saw ‘Jumpman’ logo replace the Nike label on the tongue, it was also featured on the back of the heel which was less popular with the true enthusiasts.
Nike would wait only 2 years to drop the next retro, in 2015 we saw the Chicago release once again in its OG branding with the Nike label back on the tongue. The 2015 release was another top-class pair from Nike, not only did we see our beloved OG silhouette, but the materials and quality were on point. Nike has since had a few non-OG variations of the Chicago release that are noteworthy, most notably the incredible work of the late and talented Virgil Abloh in 2017 with the Off White Chicago. Another notable pair being the 2018 ‘Origin Story’. And most recently the 2021 ‘Trophy Room’ Chicago 1s.
“As a passionate collector, there is not much that can beat that nostalgic feeling of going through your collection. Picking up a pair of sneakers, sitting back and remembering why you bought them, how you bought them, what you did to make the deal happen, where you drove to or how long you camped out for. Often, I will sit down, look at my collection and pick a pair, take it out the box and just go back in time.”
STORY TELLING
Nike and Jordan brand have listened to the enthusiasts, listened to the true collectors and the people that care about the brand and its history. With Nike doing what they do best, this is story telling at its finest. With the mismatched Nike box and lid, sale stickers and purchase receipt inside the box. You can just imagine finding this pair under a pile of dust in your parents’ basement, forgotten about for years. We all see the incredible pages on Instagram with collectors that have managed to cop these illustrious OG 1985 pairs, some of them even fortunate enough to have them with the box and original packaging, however that is only a very select few.
The AJ1 Chicago ‘Lost and Found’ gives everyone the chance to open a vintage box, pull back that paper and see a pair of AJ1 Chicago’s perfectly preserved in time all but the ageing, cracked leather and distressed collar.
The detail and story telling that has gone into the ‘Lost and Found’ will cement it as one of the best sneakers of 2022 and one of the best AJ1 Chicago releases.
No one would have known that Nike and Michael Jordan were on their way to changing the face of sneaker culture forever, but they did, and now Nike are giving us all a chance to re-live a piece of that history.
Check out more from @banksy_011 on Instagram and OffspringHQ for info on the AJ1 Chicago ‘Lost and Found’ release.
