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40 Years of Cool: The Nike Air Jordan’s Ascent to Sneaker Greatness
Released to acclaim in 1985, Michael Jordan’s Nike Air Jordan 1 has since become arguably the most iconic sneaker ever designed.
A pril 1, 2025, is the 40th anniversary of the Nike Air Jordan: the most successful, most important sneaker line ever. It’s the shoe that was on Michael Jordan’s feet virtually every step of his professional career as he introduced basketball to the world. Today, MJ’s a legacy as the greatest basketball player ever is only matched by that of his shoes.
The story starts in 1985. Sneaker culture was still in its infancy, and didn’t even have a name yet. Up until Air Jordan, Converse was the dominant force in the space. Chuck Taylors were worn through the 1970s, and Jordan himself wore Converse Fastbreaks in the 1984 Summer Olympics. But no one had a signature shoe until Nike and Michael Jordan took a chance on each other. Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1984’s NBA Draft, and had begun wearing his debut Air Jordan, designed by Peter Moore, that November. They released the following April.
The Bulls were awful. MJ was not. He was not yet a god by April 1985, or even a great, but he was already the best. And he was cool. Not cool like Muhammad Ali cool, or cool like Larry Bird. Cool like a spaceship. No one had ever seen anything like him before.
By the release of the popular Air Jordan I, he’d wrapped up Rookie of the Year and made his first All-Star and All-NBA teams. He won his first dunk contest, and averaged 28 points a game. And through it all, he had on signature red-and-black shoes that were technically banned from the league.
“It makes sense that in terms of collectability,” says Eric LiBassi, Sotheby’s Head of Streetwear, “the original pair from 1985 still commands a high price.”
The Sneaker Made Famous by Michael Jordan
The success of Jordan and Air Jordans led Nike to release the Air Jordan 2, designed by Moore and Bruce Kilgore, in 1986. In 1987, Scottie Pippen was drafted to the Chicago Bulls. And then Jordan found his running mate.
If Jordan has an equal in this world, it just might be Tinker Hatfield. Hatfield, the most famous shoe designer ever, is a god. He’s the greatest. And when he met Jordan, he was already the best.
“If you watch Seinfeld from the ’90s, they’re wearing Jordans. Skateboarders wear Jordans.”
- Eric LiBassi, Head of Streetwear, Sotheby’s
The two worked closely together. MJ sparked Hatfield’s imagination, and Hatfield in turn designed sneakers that captured ours. The Air Jordan 3, Hatfield’s first design, which was released in 1988, was Jordan’s favorite model until the release of the Air Jordan 11, which dropped at the start of the 1995-96 season. They featured patent leather on the upper; MJ wanted a shoe he could wear with a tuxedo, which is perhaps the best possible testament to how much his profile had changed.
Jordan’s Bulls had captured their first three-peat by then. He’d retired to play baseball and then returned. Sneaker culture was in full bloom, buoyed by his shoe line. When people referred to “Jordans” they weren’t speaking about his family.
“You’d see Jordans on the feet of movie stars, punk rock bands and skateboarders,” LiBassi says. “They were all throughout sports, music and pop culture. It’s hard to think of another shoe that had the same adaptability and appeal to multiple groups.”
How the Nike Air Jordan Became a Pop Culture Icon
Everyone understands what it means to be the best – to pursue greatness and immortality. Jordan’s excellence was as searing, self-evident and otherworldly as the sun. The only bridge to being “like Mike” were through his sneakers.
Air Jordan’s appeal was so universal because it was connected to basketball, which MJ turned into a global phenomenon and pastime. He was a sex symbol whose defining on-screen role is starring next to Looney Tunes characters. He was an international style icon whose personal fashion sense was a punchline. He was decidedly corporate, an eminently marketable frontman who did a lot of talking but saved most of it for the court.
As a result, Jordan and his sneakers were and remain a blank canvas, upon which we envision and imprint the best version of ourselves.
“If you watch Seinfeld from the ’90s, they’re wearing Jordans. Skateboarders wear Jordans,” says LiBassi. “There are 40 years of reference points throughout culture now. That’s not slowing down.”
Jordan wore Air Jordan 1-Air Jordan 14 as a pro. Today, there are different 39 Air Jordan models in the line, not including hybrids, rereleases and collabs. They’re in all different colorways, and can be bought as cleats.
“Obviously they’ve evolved and developed over the years. But if you look at the line, each Air Jordan kind of introduces and informs the next,” LiBassi says. They’re a perfect capsule, with an unmatched 40-year run of excellence. “But the original colorways are still the most popular.”
Today, four decades on, no sneaker is more synonymous with sports, or with fashion, or with pop culture, or with cool. There’s a reason, LiBassi explains, Air Jordan remains so relevant.
“It wasn’t Jordan who created most of these fashion and cultural moments,” LiBassi says. “It was everyone who did that.” Us.
Jordan, in other words, was a gift from on high. But Air Jordan belongs to everybody.
