» Episode 15 – It’s Gotta Be the Shoes!

With so much awesomeness coming out of the 80’s, basketball shoes (and specifically Air Jordans) were no exception. The 80’s ushered in some of the most hyped and sought-after Air Jordans in the entire Jordan collection. To this day, sneakerheads and shoe collectors consider the Air Jordan 3 as one of the most iconic and all-time greats in the Air Jordan line-up. With good reason too – from its simplistic silhouette and clean lines to the daring, yet somewhat understated elephant print pattern on the shoes, these sneakers were, and still are, immediately recognizable and effortlessly cool. While maintaining a simple elegance, they were also bold, fresh, and new. They were, and still are – pure sneaker awesomeness.

Peter Moore and Rob Strasser

**Source:** SAID Business School, University of Oxford

Van Grack commercial (warning: this is not NSFW, but contains thematic material that could be considered risqué by some)

Pair of Van Grack sneakers

Tinker Hatfield

Air Jordan 3 design sketches (Tinker Hatfield)

The jumpman logo originated in 1984, when Michael posed for a photoshoot for Life magazine before the 1984 Olympic Games. This was before Michael had even signed with Nike. The photo was staged, with Michael performing a ballet technique known as a grand jeté (pronounced: “gron zhe-tay”) to make it look like he was leaping for a slam dunk, which is interesting, considering this particular type of move wasn’t really consistent with Jordan’s jumping style.

Life Magazine photograph, 1984

In 1985, Jordan recreated this same pose for Nike – this time in a pair of Air Jordan 1’s, to promote the shoes. The jumpman logo appeared on the hang tag for the Air Jordan 1’s as well as in print advertisements for the shoe in the summer of 1985, but it didn’t officially make its debut on Air Jordans shoes until this new and upcoming third model.

Nike Air Jordan promotional photo shoot, 1985