Jordan 13 Retro Island Green

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The Jordan 13 Dresses Up with the Cap and Gown Colourway

Few shoes in the history of trainers are as iconic as Air Jordans, and few Jordans are as iconic as the 13, which released in 1997. Like all but two of the Air Jordan models worn on court by MJ himself, the 13 was designed by Tinker Hatfield. The AJ 13 represents a close collaboration between the designer and the athlete: Hatfield came to Jordan with an idea, but Jordan offered feedback that would shape the final result.

Jordan 13 History and Design: The Black Cat

After designing ten other iterations of the Air Jordan - one each year starting with the 3 - Hatfield needed fresh inspiration for the new model. He found that one day while he watched Michael play - suddenly, it all clicked. Jordan’s grace, power, the audacity of his offense, the way he conserved his energy only to spring at the perfect moment: he looked like a panther. Hatfield got to work right away. When he showed the design to Jordan, the story goes, Hatfield referred to his concept as the “Black Cat” and Jordan was floored – Black Cat was his nickname among his closest friends. And so, the 13 was born.

The Black Cat or panther concept was worked into nearly every aspect of the final product by the time of release. It represented not only a big step forward for the brand aesthetically, but technologically as well. The first Nike shoe ever designed on a computer, it includes a number of high-tech features such as a carbon fibre footplate, a holographic logo, and reflective mesh side panels.

Early sketches called for a strap so that Michael could easily adjust the tightness of the shoe on the fly during a game, but after trying on different prototypes, Jordan nixed the idea. He said that the shoe shouldn’t have anything on it that wasn’t necessary. He wanted simplicity and performance - the result was a streamlined, stylish trainer that was also the lightest Air Jordan Nike had ever produced.

Designed for classier occasions, the Cap and Gown colourway was released by the Jordan brand onto the Air Jordan 13 silhouette in 2019. Its triple black palette can be found everywhere from the patent leather overlays and the nubuck upper to the accents and insole. A slight detour is taken on the outsole, where an icy translucent black outlines the bottom. Things return to normal on the textured tread, which is done in all black — a fitting complement to the shoe's panther paw design. A subtle Jordan Jumpman logo appears in black on the shoe's already black tongue, and the shoe's signature hologram icon can be found subtly stamped on the lateral side of each ankle guard. This blacked-out design hit the shelves on April 27, 2019.