Evolution of the Nike Air Jordan Signature Shoe Sneaker Series: 1984-2023
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Shoes were just shoes for the first 80-some-odd years of the 20th century. Then in the mid-1980s, Nike released a pair of basketball shoes featuring a certain ex-Tarheel. The Air Jordan was born, and the rest, as they say, is history.
As legend has it, the iconic Air Jordan sneaker series almost never lifted off. Soon after Michael Jordan debuted the Air Jordan I, the NBA stepped in and banned the shoe because they featured "non-regulation" colors. Suffice it to say, Jordan didn't listen and thusly, the great basketball shoe boom began.
The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in late 1984 and released to the public on April 1, 1985. The shoes were designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore.