How crazy were Jordan shoes in the 80s?

[Listen]

On the day of the presentation, Hatfield and Knight flew to California, where Jordan was golfing. When they arrived, they found Jordan’s parents waiting for them in a conference room. Jordan was still out on the fairways. Sitting next to the president of the company, Hatfield felt the enormity of what was about to happen start to sink in: “This,” he remembered, “is the biggest presentation of my life.”

Four hours later, Michael Jordan walked into the room. He wasn’t happy to be there. He had been golfing with Strasser and Moore, who’d recently given an incredible presentation on the new brand they wanted to launch. Now, they were on the verge of signing. “All right, show me what you got,” Jordan grumbled.

Hatfield stood up and started asking Jordan questions. He asked him to recall what he’d said earlier about the shoe’s height, its weight, about his Italian shoes and leather patterns. Hatfield started showing the sketches to Jordan, who was beginning to warm up: For the first time, someone had actually paid attention to what he wanted and needed. Jordan asked to see the sample.

Hatfield pulled a black cover off a lump on the table, and there it was: the concrete-elephant print lining. The soft, sturdy leather, the Nike Air bubble on the bottom. A lower, mid-rise cuff that distinguished it from virtually every other shoe on the planet. Instead of a giant Nike swoosh on the side, the side was clean. The swoosh had been relegated to the back. And in the front, on that oversize, plush shoe tongue: the Jumpman silhouette. It was a symbol, Hatfield explained, of who was at the forefront of the shoe—and the company.

Jordan grabbed the sneaker, smiling. He’d never seen the Jumpman logo as anything other than an idea. Now it beamed from the front of the sneaker, and Jordan loved it. But perhaps most important, someone had found a way to take his needs as a basketball player and his ideas as a fashion connoisseur and meld them into a single design, one that was distinct from anything else on the market. When Jordan started talking about different colorways for the shoe, Hatfield knew he was in.

“Phil Knight thinks I helped save Nike that day,” Hatfield has since said. “I don’t know if it’s true or not, but that’s his perception.”

The Air Jordan III hit shelves in February 1988, retailing for $100. They were the shoes Michael Jordan wore while famously winning the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest—flying from the free throw line to the rim. They were also the shoes he donned for that year’s All-Star and league MVP awards. And, before long, they’d yielded one of the most iconic tag lines (“It’s gotta be the shoes!”) of any ad campaign in the Spike Lee–directed Mars Blackmon spots, starring Lee himself as Blackmon.

Jordan, of course, remained with Nike and has since collaborated with Hatfield on 19 iterations of Air Jordans (or “Js,” as they’re known), which have remained the most popular basketball shoe line in the history of the market and the most coveted sneakers in the known universe. The Jordan Brand subdivision of Nike made $2.25 billion in 2013 alone and accounts for nearly 60 percent of the American basketball shoe market. Today, Jordan refers to Hatfield as his “right-hand man” in all things design-related. Hatfield has since become vice president of design at Nike. He’s still taking inspiration from unconventional places (for the Jordan XI, he consistently cites a lawn mower).

As for the original Air Jordan III, it’s been galvanized in rap and pop songs and is regularly ranked by sneakerhead publications as the greatest Air Jordan of all time. And in 2001, the Air Jordan III became the first Jordan to be rereleased (or “retroed,” in sneaker parlance) and sell out in full. In fact, the highly coveted limited-availability III is the shoe that sparked the robust sneaker-collecting culture that exists today.

None of this would have happened had Hatfield followed convention. Instead, he went rogue in the simple, revolutionary way that is shrugging off common wisdom: Maybe athletic shoes can be more than just functional, and stylish shoes can function beyond their form. It took an architect to bring that idea to light.

Years later, Hatfield would ask Jordan why he ended up staying with Nike. Jordan replied that two factors swayed his decision: the advice of his father—who told him to stay the course—and a gut feeling. Jordan could feel that someone had managed to tap into him as a three-dimensional human being and translate that personality into a pair of shoes. And that, to Jordan, was special. In other words? It’s gotta be the shoes.

 

[iceberg_is_on_fire]

A girls mom once made her break up with me when I slid through with the first foams. She was on some 'He's gotta be drug dealing', those shoes are worth more than my car note. I never hit either, still bitter about that.

 

[Great Big]

I remember jordans coming out during the week maybe a tuesday or friday, for years and eventually jordan brand scheduled releases cuz kids were skipping school to cop. Also, non ball playing cats and non hustlers didnt wear jordans how youll see today. Nowadays, women, cats that have never played ball will be the first to have them. Kind of seemed like jordans had a stigma attached to them, that alot of people didnt want to be seen with them on

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

Pippens didn't come out til 1997
We talking late 80s, early 90s
Jordan 1-8 timeframe
Only shoe that was more expensive were the OG Pumps that David Robinson and Woody wore in White Men Can’t Jump
I think those were $175

were they really? I got them at a local footwear outlet after I saw the Dee Brown dunk contest, keep in mind this was in the mid 90s and not in '91 when the contest happened

 

[The War Report]

Crazy how the 3s saved Nike and the Jordan brand. There was no way Nike was going to skimp on quality materials on the OG sneakers while Jordan was playing. The quality of the shoe had to match the caliber of player that was Jordan on the court.

 

[hashmander]

from 1st grade (the 3's) onward my parents got me them every year until funny enough i got a part time job in 11th grade and they stopped buying them for me, pops was like "you a working man now, buy it yourself." and i was like "they cost this much?" and the 15's didn't look all that good to me anyway so i started developing other tastes.

 

[old boy]

when me and my father copped the ones upon release date downtown brooklyn at V.I.M.S. they were $63.00 with tax which was UNHEARD of b. coppin 45 dollar adidas was considered an extravagance so this was outrageous. and we were not swimmin in bread at all but my father understood how much i loved mike (though magic was my favorite, still) and dreamed about them shoes. i knew every intimate detail and got him hype too. so i got the red and black and he bought himself the red, white and blacks. they came with two pairs of shoelaces, both red and black. but my strange father decided he was going to put both of them laces in his joints at the same time and it looked weird as fukk but i ain't say shyt lol

i was an extremely well behaved little nerdy/square nikka but when i walked into school rockin them shyts with the matching le tigre and run dmc lee denims? shorties were on me b plus i was fielding questions from my homeboys about everything air jordan related. i even started jumping and nikkas swore my vertical increased. i was gassed

nobody tried to rob me because of who my cousins were. thank god. i've been about them J's ever since basically

 

[the cool]

That is bold as fukk

No cameras back in 96-97

I gave zero fukks as a 16 yr old

 

[the cool]

my first pair was the 8s in 2nd grade. I remember getting crazy attention for wearing them, felt like a big shot. They will forever be my fav Js.

This kid in my 5th grade class had them. Parents would never buy me shoes that expensive. I used to stare at his shoes every day in class. These hoes were clean af back then

 

[Optimus Prime]

were they really? I got them at a local footwear outlet after I saw the Dee Brown dunk contest, keep in mind this was in the mid 90s and not in '91 when the contest happened

you thinking about the Dee Brown pumps which were "Omni Lites", I'm not talking about those
I'm talking about the original Dominique Wilkins Reebok Pumps that came out in 1988 for $170 and the Nike Force Pumps that Woody Harrelson wore in White Men can't Jump. Nobody had these originally because they were so much more than any regular bball shoe...

 

[Smitty Belafonte]

Not as important as they are now cuz if you couldn’t afford them or your parents couldn’t afford them U didn’t get em. Nowadays people wear Jordan’s and don’t even have a car. shyts different.

 

[manyfaces]

you thinking about the Dee Brown pumps which were "Omni Lites", I'm not talking about those
I'm talking about the original Dominique Wilkins Reebok Pumps that came out in 1988 for $170 and the Nike Force Pumps that Woody Harrelson wore in White Men can't Jump. Nobody had these originally because they were so much more than any regular bball shoe...

I remember those Forces. Weren't they the ones you had a little nozzle that you used to pump them in the back?

 

[Art Barr]

How much did they cost back then?

I wanna see the fake one expose themselves with this.



Art Barr

 

[Art Barr]

I remember those Forces. Weren't they the ones you had a little nozzle that you used to pump them in the back?

you are actually talking about the original pumps.
the nike air pressures came out way before the reebok pump.
then the command force.
then the reebok pumps.

as both pressure and the command force's were the highest priced pointed shoes on the market ever originally at 180, if i remember right.
like before the catapult style later Adidas that Garnett and Duncan endorsed.
this was way before the pumps.
which were 89-150.
depending upon the flavor of pump shoe and sport intended use when you copped.
With the football crosstrainer being the most expensive at like 150, if i remember right.
the reebok pump caught on because it was more price friendly.
of all the flavors of pump bball shoes nike featured.
plus the reebok pump line was just more friendly.
from marketing, scope, design and price point.



art barr


command forces & nike air pressure aesthetics & tech >>> reebok pump bball
reebok pump football price point >>> command forces & pressures
reebok pump tennis >>> most nike runners and nike tennis

 

[Tony D'Amato]

My first pair of Js were these

Pops cussed his azz off over the price.