23 Flavors Bounces Back from Controversy
As the third pick of the NBA draft in 1984, Michael Jordan was the rookie player for the Chicago Bulls. That year marked a big accomplishment when he also signed an endorsement deal with Nike and created his own brand “Air Jordans”. His original sneaker, the AJI, first appeared on court in 1985 with Jordan himself sporting the shoe. They were his trademark colors, black and red, and became banned by the NBA because they were in violation of the on-court dress code. Nike was so determined to create a large franchise that they were more than willing to pay the $5000 fine for each court appearance the shoe made. The dues weren’t a problem though. Nike benefited from the banning and created campaigns with the message of how there shoe got banned because it was so “hot”. The campaigning payed off and a lot of people started buying the shoe. The Air Jordan I was the only kicks to be released in 23 colors, also known as the 23 favors. The most popular colors were the Chicago Bulls team colors, black and red.My favorite color of the 23 flavors is the Carolina blue and white. Carolina blue comes for North Carolina Tar Heels, the college Jordan played for and led to many victories. All the Jordans I own are normally a navy blue, but Carolina blue has always been my favorite. In 1994, the Air Jordans I were re-released as a retro shoe and hardly sold, but Nike didn’t give up on the original sneaker and made a new retro for the sneaker in 2001. The second time was definitely a charm. The shoe was in high demand and some stores sold out of them just minutes after hitting the shelves. I like all the different colors the retro line has. The design is so “different” from the other Air Jordans and more colors can appear on one shoe without it looking tacky. Bright colored retros are my favorite and I like how the first logo is issued in the AJI.
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- Air Jordan I- Carolina Blue
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- Air Jordan I retros
