The greatest sneaker in history is returning later this year. Yep, the Air Jordan 1 ‘Chicago’–the OG to beat all OGs–will return Holiday 2022.
According to Instagram account @zSneakerHeadz, the AJ1 will be entitled the ‘Chicago Reimagined’, and will have “an aged/vintage look, and a closer shape to the ’85s. Improved toebox.”
Retail prices will also potentially increase for all Air Jordan 1s this year, the account concluded.
The AJ1 Chicago has a long and storied history, which was brought back into the cultural forefront after Michael Jordan’s Netflix documentary The Last Dance retold the story of his signing at Nike and the debut of the Air Jordan line, birthing the most successful athlete and brand partnership of all time.
The Air Jordan 1 was one of the most popular shoes of the 1980s, helping birth sneaker culture from a generation of kids who wanted to be ‘like Mike’. Its original ‘Chicago’ colourway, inspired by the Chicago Bulls for which Jordan predominantly played, remains its most iconic, though the Air Jordan 1 was released with numerous other colourways–the most important of which was known as the Bred (black and red) or ‘banned’ colourway for its infamous NBA ban, in 1985.
Air Jordan 1 Chicago: A history
The first time that the Air Jordan 1 Chicago was rereleased was during Jordan’s first retirement back in 1994/1995 (they’re culturally known as the 94s for their production date, but were released in 1995), and were not nearly as popular, though now go for thousands on the resale market.
The Chicago was rereleased again in 2013, this time to much greater fanfare, but was also much criticized for the perceived lower quality materials and its divergences from the original design, including the lack of a ‘Nike Air’ tag on the tongue, as well as a ‘Jumpman’ logo on the heel. It was then rereleased in 2015 much closer to the original design to widespread praise, and remains one of the hardest pairs for a sneakerhead to attain.
While there have been many releases that evoke parts of the original Chicago, such as last year’s controversial ‘Trophy Room’ Chicagos, which were rumoured to be mostly resold to resellers through the ‘back door’, with few being able to score pairs, the 1994 version is the closest that we have seen to the original release.
In recent years, 85 Chicagos have become one of the hottest properties on the resell market, with collectors such as Curated Van sourcing pairs for celebrities such as Kevin Hart and Joe La Puma.
Jordan itself has started an ’85’ line of Air Jordan 1s, with pairs such as last year’s ‘Neutral Greys’ and the imminently releasing ‘Georgetowns’ made to be an ’85’ cut, with a longer tongue, thicker leather, polyurethane insole and improved cut, amongst other details.
Get updates about the release of the Georgetowns and other Jordan releases, including raffle entry, here or through Instagram here.