The Air Jordan 1 High is a legendary silhouette of an even more legendary basketball player, Michael Jordan. The 1s are referred to as a milestone in the sneaker game and should not be missing in any sneaker collector's shoe closet. And this moment is arguably the most powerful one we've seen in sneaker history. Let's take a look at why that is the case.

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THE HISTORY OF THE AIR JORDAN 1 HIGH

It's important to say that the collaboration between Jordan and Nike didn't go like a charm. For a very long time, MJ thought about taking an offer from rival adidas. Therefore, Nike had to come up with a very big plan and terms of cooperation for Michael to sign with them. That's why Nike came up with the idea of not "just" making shoes, but making an entire brand for Michael, and that's the beginning of this phenomenal story. Once Jordan agreed to the terms of the deal, he met with then-creative-director Peter Moore, the man behind the design of the Air Jordan 1 High sneaker. Things didn't spark well between MJ and the 1s at first, with Michael saying they looked like clown shoes, but eventually he grew to love them. The sneakers first released in 1985 in the colorway black/red, which is also sometimes referred to as "banned". That's because back in the time, NBA rules stated that a player could only wear a sneaker that was 51% white, which of course the original sneaker did not have. MJ was supposed to be fined $5,000, but it is just a rumor and there is no factual evidence anywhere that he was ever fined. However, this story helped the sneaker so much that it sold out immediately when it was first released. And you probably won't believe this, but people stopped being interested in it after that, so Nike pulled it from sale in 1986. By then, 13 colorways of the Jordan 1 had been released, including "Banned," "Chicago," "Retro Royal," and "Carolina Blue," among others. And although many other colorways were released in the future, the colorways from that original year remain the most sought after.

JORDAN 1 TOP 3 COLORWAYS

The top three most popular and most praised colorways are definitely the very original "Black/Red" with a 4/1985 release, followed by the "Jordan 1 Black Toe" (1985), "Jordan 1 Chicago" (1985) and "Jordan 1 Royal" (1985). More recent ones are the collaboration with the late Virgil Abloh's Off-White brand on the "Revealing" silhouette, or colorways like the Air Jordan 1 Pine Green and Dark Mocha.

As you've probably figured out by now, the 1's should have a place in your shoe closet and there's no question about it. So explore our selection, where you'll find not only the Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG, but also models like the Air Jordan 1 Zoom or the Air Jordan 1 KO.