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The Air Jordan 1 High '85 ‘Bred’ is one of the biggest grails in sneaker history. Seriously. There's just no denying it. First released all the way back in 1985, it was Michael Jordan's first official signature shoe from Nike, virtually birthing modern sneaker culture as we know it and changing the very nature of athlete sponsorship deals forever. And with the legendary collab's 40th birthday coming up just around the corner (many happy returns!), it's finally making a comeback in its most authentic form ever.
A brief history: Back in the ‘80s, the NBA required all sneakers worn on the court to be at least 51% white. This meant that, whether it was a Converse or a New Balance, every basketball shoe looked almost identical to the next.
But when MJ first started working with Nike, they made the bold decision to make signature trainers almost entirely red and black. Every time he wore them, he was fined $5,000 a game. Sensing the marketing potential, Nike decided to continue to flout the rules and simply paid the damages on Jordan's behalf. That earned the ‘Bred’ Jordan 1s a new nickname: the ‘Banned.’
While the ‘Bred’ (or ‘Banned’) has re-released a few times over the past four decades, this upcoming pair will be a like-for-like remake of the OG from ’85. It comes in an all-leather build that's meant to look and feel as premium as the Air Jordans from way back when. A Swoosh, as always, is planted to the lateral and medial sidewalls, and the mythical winged basketball emblem is stamped across the collar.
Down south, the midsole is dipped in white, and it's infused with Nike's critically-acclaimed Air tech for added comfiness and bounciness. Rumour has it that it'll come packed in an era-accurate shoebox too, just like the ‘Lost & Found’ from 2022.
The Air Jordan 1 High ‘85 ‘Bred’ will return sometime in Spring 2025, just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Jordan Brand. Set to drop at Nike, the SNKRS app, and select retailers across the globe, they’ll retail for around $200 a pop. Expect resale prices to be triple that, though.
This story originally appeared on British GQ with the title ‘After four decades in the vault, the Air Jordan 1 High ‘85 ‘Bred’ is back’