Air Jordan — The story of Air Jordans and their impact on not only sport culture but pop culture can be traced back to the man himself Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was and is arguably the most well known and well regarded Sport superstar of all time. His elegant and athletic style of play was revolutionary for the NBA and his success with the Chicago Bulls made him a legend in his time.
He was able to parlay this success into a line of wildly successful shoes that traded on his superstar status . Nike was already a very well regarded company not only in athletic shoes but also in streetwear, offered Michael Jordan a very lucrative shoe deal that promised him revenue in perpetuity in exchange for the use of his name after he was done playing basketball. Starting with the Air Jordan 1 and then continuing on in a regular interval of releases all numbered, each of them developed a cult status around it and became collectors items. In the 90s Jordans would retail for a relatively high price point compared to other shoes like it. But many aficionados many of them young we’re happy to pay the premium to have the coolest shoes around, the Air Jordan. Once Michael Jordan retired the shoes continue to be released under the Air Jordan name and their popularity did not diminish.
As they were released different colors and designs would emerge and make each one a collectors item. And secondary market for Air Jordan shoes emerged both online and in stores. The Air Jordan is recognized as the beginning and genesis of street shoe collecting and culture and is also the pinnacle of that collection. Websites especially eBay are loaded with hundreds of pairs of Air Jordans. The cost for an aftermarket pair of Air Jordans can reach into the thousands of dollars for certain color-ways and designs . Often times collectors of the Air Jordans will never wear them and sometimes will never take them out of the box considering them priceless and valuable collectors items that should be protected as an investment and never worn or gotten dirty let alone use for playing basketball. Air Jordan today is a subsidiary of Nike incorporated and a sub brand that is retailed often at Nike stores. But often times once a new Air Jordan is released it will never make to the shelves before they are pre ordered and snatched up right away.
The brand of the Air Jordan is so strong that many people and collectors have entire rooms and vaults full of Air Jordans and dedicated to nothing but their shoes. This can all be traced back to the marketing genius of Nike that was able to harness the popularity of the superstar Michael Jordan into a brand and which was able to sell shoes for more money than anyone had before but to establish the value early on. Michael Jordan is a superstar that may never be replaced in the same way that Michael Jordan or Michael Jackson can never be the worldwide dominating superstar that they were. But the Air Jordan lives on and many collectors still wait with excitement and thousands of dollars to buy the next edition when it comes out. The new versions of Air Jordan have new colorways and designs that make them even more exciting. Throughout their history Nike has used their extensive technological and design resources to keep the Air Jordan looking fresh and new and different for collectors .
Online buzz and rumors swirl for weeks before the release of a new Air Jordan shoe. The hype and anticipation is like an album dropping or a movie coming out for premiere. The latest Air Jordan to capture the imagination of the world is based on the self lacing Air Jordan shoes from Back to the Future 2. In this film the shoes that Michael J Fox’s character wears lasses itself with the push of a button . The excitement over this technologically advanced shoe has brought the Air Jordan back to the front of the conversation in a way like never before . This level of innovation and marketing is what will keep the Air Jordan Brand strong and the cult around their shoe devoted for years to come.