Released in 2021: The Air Jordan 1 High Switch Pink Volt
The Air Jordan 1 is the trainer that started it all, marking the beginning of the most iconic lineage of trainers in history. In many ways, it's responsible for launching modern-day trainer culture as a whole - and it almost didn't happen.
History of Air Jordan 1
As the story goes, the year was 1984, and Chicago Bulls' rookie Michael Jordan was a hot commodity for endorsement deals, with trainers naturally being paramount.
Jordan had just come off a stellar college basketball season at the University of North Carolina. He wore Converse and was a personal fan of Adidas, so he took meetings with both companies, but they never reached a deal. It seems strange today, but at the time, Michael Jordan hated Nike - so much so that he refused to take a meeting with them.
He was persuaded by his mother, Deloris Jordan, to visit the Nike campus in Oregon and listen to their pitch. His plan was to go through the motions to appease his parents and agent but he ultimately left with a contract unlike any other.
Rather than walking in the shadows of established athletes like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (which may have been the case had he signed elsewhere), Michael Jordan shone in the Nike limelight. He was paid more than any other athlete with a trainer endorsement at the time. Nike made him the face of its growing presence in basketball, and gave him his own trainer line - called Air Jordan.
Jordan 1 High Switch Black/Light Peach/Peach/Volt
In late 2020, Nike introduced the Air Jordan 1 High Switch - the first trainer that converts from high top to low top. The Switch has a removable high collar that zips off to change the trainer into a low top. The first Switch, the Air Jordan 1 High Switch Black Toe, had a conventional black and red colourway, but innovations were soon to follow. Released in late spring 2021, the Pink Volt has an eye-catching upper of light peach suede with a darker peach vamp. The zipper and laces are in neon chartreuse, which Nike calls "Volt", and the logo, swoosh, and other accents are black while the sole is white.
