story

What's up everyone I'm Terrence Harvey 
Product Manager for Jordan Retro Footwear
My name is OJ
I'm a lead creative for Global Jordan Brand
My name is Shelly I'm an apparel designer for Jordan
And we're in DNA today 
Talking behind the design of Rare Air

I was really inspired 
By people that grew up wearing Jordans
As a kid and as they become adults
They go into these shops or these boutiques
And they see something nostalgic
But also something new
That they would want to buy

I just think about people
Who are obsessed with sneaker culture
Who revels in the details of their craft
And who sees flaws as a mark of individuality 
But also errors as an opportunity for growth
The team really wanted to highlight

Some of those things that come to life
In imperfections the first thing
The backwards Nike Air on the heel tab
This is something that we may have 
In the sampling phase
So you have these beautiful suede and nubuck hits
Followed by this beautiful 
Tumbled throughout the upper 
And then you have this beautiful

Suede tongue as well
My favorite women's Rare Air piece
Is this renegade jacket
This back embroidery using the wings logo
And just the shape of the silhouette
So through the apparel collection
You get this beautiful distressing techniques

It shares a similarity across the beautiful 
Woven labels similar to what you would have found
In the made in Japan capsule
That Nike was doing in the late 80s
Coming off the heels of the AJ 3
We knew that the AJ 4 was the perfect canvas
Again in that same color space
As you saw in the AJ

1 and the AJ 3 
So you have this kind of hairy
Suede that kind of wraps around the toe cap here
And then one hidden element
This removable tongue patch
Where you can see this Jordan
Rare Air branding right behind the tongue here
There will be 2% of the pairs that go into the market

That have the gold stitching
You know we talk about MJ
And like we really lean on nostalgia
But I think like
This new generation
May not know how great he was
On your journey to greatness
There's gonna be trial and error
And I wanted to tell that story to...

Behind the Design

Look Of Rare Air AJ4