The Complete History of Air Jordan Sneakers: From Air Jordan 1 to Air Jordan 40
Few sneakers carry the weight of culture, sport, and streetwear the way Air Jordans do. What started as a $2.5 million bet on a rookie shooting guard from the Chicago Bulls turned into the biggest signature sneaker line in history — one that's still dropping new models more than four decades later.
At Lemkus, Air Jordan has been part of our wall since 1989, so we thought it was time to tell the whole story properly: from the Air Jordan 1 that got banned by the NBA, through the golden era of Jordan 2 to Jordan 23, right up to the newly released Air Jordan 40.
HOW IT ALL STARTED: MICHAEL JORDAN AND NIKE - In 1984, Michael Jordan was a rookie being courted by Adidas, Converse, and Nike. Nike won him over with a highlight reel of his dunks and a promise no other brand was making: instead of putting him in an existing shoe, they'd build a signature line around him. On October 26, 1984, Jordan signed a six-year, $2.5 million deal with Nike — three times bigger than any other NBA shoe deal at the time, and structured so Jordan earned royalties on every pair sold.
Nike designed the first shoe with Peter Moore, and the Jumpman silhouette that would eventually become the brand's logo was based on a 1984 photograph of Jordan mid-leap, taken before the Los Angeles Olympics. Nike set a modest goal: $3 million in sales over three years. They hit that in weeks.
AIR JORDAN 1 (1985): THE SHOE THE NBA BANNED The Air Jordan 1 is where the legend begins.
— though the shoe that actually got banned wasn't quite the Air Jordan 1 itself. NBA uniform rules at the time required shoes to be at least 51% white and match the rest of the team's colourway, with a $5,000 fine per game for violations. At the start of the 1984 season, before the Air Jordan 1 was ready for production, Jordan wore a black-and-red Nike Air Ship, and it was this shoe the NBA fined the Bulls over. By the time the Air Jordan 1 itself released, Nike had folded the controversy into the shoe's identity anyway.
Nike turned the episode into the "Banned" campaign, one of the most famous sneaker ads ever made: "On September 15th, Nike created a revolutionary new basketball shoe. On October 18th, the NBA threw them out of the game." Whether it was the Air Ship or the Air Jordan 1 wearing the fine, the marketing worked — the Air Jordan 1 sold out its first 50,000 pairs and went on to generate more than $150 million in sales. Today, original 1985 pairs have sold for as much as $20,000 on the resale market, and the "Chicago" and "Royal" colourways remain two of the most iconic sneakers ever produced.
AIR JORDAN 2 TO AIR JORDAN 5: BUILDING A LEGACY
- AIR JORDAN 2 (1986) moved production to Italy and leaned into a more premium, Italian-made design, a response to the runaway success of the first shoe.
- AIR JORDAN 3 (1988) is the turning point for the whole line. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, it introduced the elephant-print detailing and the visible Air-Sole unit in the heel, along with the Jumpman logo appearing for the first time. Jordan reportedly threatened to leave Nike before this shoe turned things around — it's now widely considered the design that saved the brand.
- AIR JORDAN 4 (December 1988) brought the visible mesh netting and the now-famous "wings" eyelets. It's also the first Air Jordan to be distributed globally — while the Air Jordan 1 had launched in the United States in 1985, Nike didn't take the line to markets outside the US until the Air Jordan 4 four years later. It's also the shoe worn by Giancarlo Esposito's character "Buggin' Out" in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), a scene so iconic that Jordan Brand later released a retro pair replicating his scuffed sneakers.
- AIR JORDAN 5 (1990), designed by Hatfield, took inspiration from World War II fighter jets, adding the shark-tooth midsole and reflective 3M tongue tabs. It's also the sneaker Will Smith wore as Will in the pilot episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
AIR JORDAN 6 TO AIR JORDAN 14: THE CHAMPIONSHIP ERA
This stretch of the lineup is what most collectors call the golden era, because it lines up almost exactly with Michael Jordan's six NBA championships with the Bulls.
- AIR JORDAN 6 (1991) was worn during Jordan's first championship run and is the shoe most associated with that first title.
- AIR JORDAN 7 (1992) dropped the visible Air unit but introduced "huarache" inner-sleeve technology for a tighter fit.
- AIR JORDAN 8 (1993) arrived with crossover straps and extra ankle support, released to coincide with the 1992–93 season.
- AIR JORDAN 9 (1993) was the first model released after Jordan's first retirement from the NBA in 1993 — the first Jordan sneaker he never actually played in during an active NBA season.
- AIR JORDAN 10 (1994) honoured his career with colourways representing different U.S. cities.
- AIR JORDAN 11 (1995), another Hatfield design, is often cited as Jordan's personal favourite, thanks to its patent leather mudguard. It debuted the year he returned from retirement, and Will Smith later wore the "Columbia" colourway in the final episode of Fresh Prince.
- AIR JORDAN 12 (1996) featured a "Rising Sun" design inspired by the flag of Japan.
- AIR JORDAN 13 (1997) added a carbon fibre plate and a design inspired by a black panther. Decades later, a pair of "Last Dance" Air Jordan 13s worn by Jordan sold at auction for a record $2.2 million.
- AIR JORDAN 14 (1998) was inspired by the Ferrari 550M that Jordan owned, and was on his feet for "The Last Shot" — the game-winning shot against the Utah Jazz in his final game as a Bulls player.
TOGETHER, AIR JORDAN 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13 AND 14 LATER FORMED THE BASIS OF THE "6 RINGS" HYBRID SHOE, RELEASED IN 2008 WITH COLOURWAYS REPRESENTING EVERY TEAM THE BULLS BEAT IN THE FINALS DURING THE 1990S.
AIR JORDAN 15 TO AIR JORDAN 23: LIFE AFTER THE BULLS
- AIR JORDAN 15 (1999) was the first release after Jordan's second retirement, with a design pulled from stealth fighter jets.
- AIR JORDAN 16 (2001) introduced removable spats over the laces, marking Jordan's brief comeback with the Washington Wizards.
- AIR JORDAN 17 (2002) came in a golf-club-style case and even shipped with a multimedia CD-ROM.
- AIR JORDAN 18 (2003) launched during what was, at the time, believed to be Jordan's final NBA season.
- AIR JORDAN 19 (2004) was the first release after his third and final retirement.
- AIR JORDAN 20 (2005) took cues from low-cut motorcycle racing boots, reflecting Jordan's post-basketball passion for motorsport.
- AIR JORDAN 21 (2006) was designed by D'Wayne Edwards, moving the design language further from motorsport and closer to luxury.
- AIR JORDAN XX2 / 22 (2007) was inspired by the F-22 Raptor fighter jet.
- AIR JORDAN XX3 / 23 (2008), designed by Tinker Hatfield, closed out the Roman-numeral era as one of the brand's more premium, technically driven builds, using sustainable manufacturing practices Nike was championing at the time.
BY THIS POINT, THE AIR JORDAN 1 THROUGH 23 HAD CEMENTED JORDAN NOT JUST AS A BASKETBALL ICON BUT AS A PERMANENT FIXTURE IN FASHION, STREETWEAR, AND HIP-HOP — WORN ON ALBUM COVERS BY EAZY-E, REFERENCED IN LYRICS BY JAY-Z, 2PAC, AND THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G., AND EVENTUALLY COLLABORATED ON BY EVERYONE FROM TRAVIS SCOTT TO OFF-WHITE'S VIRGIL ABLOH TO DIOR.
WHAT HAPPENED AFTER JORDAN 23? THE LINE KEEPS GOING — ALL THE WAY TO JORDAN 40. After Air Jordan 23, Nike briefly moved away from Roman numerals, releasing the Air Jordan 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012 named for their release year, before returning to numbering with the Air Jordan XX8 in 2013. Since then, the line has continued releasing a new signature model almost every year:
