JORDAN PUT PATENT LEATHER ON A BASKETBALL SHOE AND SPACE JAM DID THE REST

## 1995. Jordan Comes Back. Michael Jordan returned from his first retirement on March 18, 1995, wearing number 45. The Air Jordan 11 wasn't ready yet. When the AJ11 finally debuted in October 1995, it introduced something no basketball shoe had ever featured: patent leather. Tinker Hatfield designed the AJ11 around a formal shoe concept. Jordan wanted a sneaker he could wear with a suit. Hatfield used patent leather on the mudguard to create a shoe that bridged athletic performance and formal fashion. The carbon fiber spring plate in the sole was the most advanced technology Nike had ever put in a basketball shoe. The shoe retailed for $125 in 1995. ## The Space Jam Effect Warner Bros. released "Space Jam" on November 15, 1996. Jordan wore the Concord AJ11 in the film's climactic basketball scene. The movie grossed $250 million worldwide, and every child who watched it wanted the shoes. Nike reportedly sold $200 million worth of Air Jordan 11s during the 1996 holiday season. The 2011 Concord retro release crashed Nike's SNKRS system and caused in-store incidents at malls across the United States. An estimated 2 million pairs sold in 72 hours. ## The Holiday Sneaker The Air Jordan 11 established the concept of the holiday sneaker release. Starting in 1995, Nike began releasing AJ11 colorways every December. The 2015 AJ11 72-10 release reportedly generated $340 million in gross revenue in its opening weekend. No other single sneaker release in history has matched that number. ## Patent Leather Changed the Game Before the AJ11, basketball shoes looked like basketball shoes. After the AJ11, basketball shoes could look like anything. Patent leather on a performance shoe was considered absurd in 1995. The shoe also created the "sneakers with a suit" aesthetic that became standard in NBA tunnel walks by 2010. ## The Verdict The Air Jordan 11 is the bestselling retro sneaker of all time by revenue. It combined patent leather with performance technology, debuted in the highest-grossing sports film ever made at the time, and created the December release cycle that drives Nike's entire fiscal calendar.