The year is 1989, Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls are facing the Cleveland Cavaliers in a tied best of five series, its Game 4 with three seconds left and the Bulls are down 1, with little to no time at all Jordan receives an inbound pass to make a buzzer beater shot to give the Bulls a 101-100-point lead.
This momentous moment will always be tied to the Jordan 4 as Michael iced the series in timely fashion.
In this edition of CrepTalk we go over the history of the iconic Jordan 4 origins and its noticeable colourways.
Designed by the legend himself Tinker Hatfield in 1989, the Jordan 4 was a follow up to one of the greatest sneaker designs of all time the Jordan 3, Tinker definitely had to be clutch with this one, as following up from the Jordan 3 was no exact easy task, especially as this was to be the first air Jordan to be released globally.
There were four original colourways
· Black Cement
· White Cement
· Military Blue
· Fire red
When designing the Jordan 3 Tinker sought to include Michael in the designing process to suite his personal on court aesthetic, this same process followed through to the Jordan 4.
The most significant difference was the addition of a moulded layer of urethane coated mesh netting for added ventilation and breathability.
Furthermore, Tinker also wanted to add the ability for the wearer to adjust their shoes to how the lace lock panel on each shoe, with enough holes to apparently create 18 different lacing styles for Jordan to style his shoes. This added both style and performance.
In terms of the shoe’s materials, the Jordan 4 black cement colourway sported a new material called Durabuck, a synthetic performance fabric, which was similar to Nubuck, Durabuck was lighter and more durable for a sports sneaker to last, the shoe also sported a rubber outsole along with a polyurethane midsole to accommodate Jordan’s bounce and fast cutting movements.
The Air Jordan 4s had a great influence in the transcendence of basketball sneakers and became a pop culture Icon namely due to the marketing with Nike and Spike Lee, as the ‘Mars Blackmon’ character became a success so did the Jordan 4s. The success of the commercials which highlighted the main message which was ‘ you cant play like Jordan but you can buy his shoes’
The Jordan 4 is one of my all-time favourite sneakers, though they’re hard to get most times they are still a must cop for me especially if it’s a primary colourway.
Comment down below which is favourite Jordan colourway and why.
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