Jordan 1 Colorways: The Dated History of the OG Pairs

Jordan 1 colorways look simple, but three of them, Chicago, Banned and Royal, are original pairs that Nike’s Top 3 Pick page traces to 1985. The Air Jordan 1 reached stores in six test markets on 1 April 1985 at $64.94 a pair, according to the Los Angeles Times. Below we date the pairs we could source, separate the marketing story from the record, and list the sale prices that were actually documented.

• 1 April 1985: the date the Los Angeles Times gives for the shoe’s release in six test markets.
• $64.94: the price per pair the same newspaper reported in April 1985.
• 3 of the original colorways: Banned, Chicago and Royal, the trio Nike’s own Top 3 Pick page brings together.
• $560,000: the price of a game-worn 1985 pair at Sotheby’s on 17 May 2020, according to Guinness World Records.

  Which Jordan 1 colorways came first?

  The first Jordan 1 colorways were the original pairs introduced in 1985, and Nike’s Top 3 Pick page singles out three of them as iconic: Banned, Chicago and Royal. The page says the shoe’s allure “has a lot to do with the original colorways introduced in 1985” and that “all the OGs are forever appreciated.” It ties its Top 3 Pick theme to “the colors that started it all.”

  Peter B. Moore designed the shoe, according to Wikipedia’s Air Jordan entry, and Complex notes it was designed in Portland, Oregon and worn in Chicago. Sneaker History, citing people in the Bulls organization, says MJ first wore it on 17 November 1984 against the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 16 points on 4-for-17 shooting, before going back to the Air Ship until 20 December 1984.

  According to the Los Angeles Times, the shoe had passed $29 million in sales, roughly 450,000 pairs, within a month of reaching test markets. Our Air Jordan 1 history covers the wider timeline.

  Was the Banned Jordan 1 really banned?

  The Banned colorway is the black and red pair, and according to Yahoo Sports the ban behind its name was a ruling about a black and red Air Ship prototype, not the Air Jordan 1 sold in stores. That report says MJ wore the prototype at Madison Square Garden on 18 October 1984, prompting a letter from NBA executive Russ Granik:

  “This will confirm and verify that the NBA’s rules and procedures prohibited the wearing of certain red and black Nike basketball shoes by Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan on or around October 18th, 1984.”

  The Los Angeles Times wrote in April 1985 that the NBA never banned the Air Jordans and ruled only that the colors must change.

  

  According to Yahoo Sports, Nike has often said he was fined $5,000 per game for wearing the black and red Air Jordan 1 on court, yet he never wore that pair in an official game. The 1985 Los Angeles Times piece mentions no fine, so it stays unconfirmed. See our Air Jordan 1 Banned article and Nike Air Ship history.

  Why is the Chicago colorway the reference pair?

  Chicago is the red, black and white Air Jordan 1, and Complex says it was the version MJ wore most often, from November 1984 to April 1986, when Larry Bird called him “God disguised as Michael Jordan.” Complex wrote that the Air Jordan 1 was “the first basketball sneaker that transcended basketball while it was still new.”

  

  Virgil Abloh used the Chicago colors for his deconstructed Air Jordan 1 in the 2017 “The Ten” collection from Nike and Off-White, according to Wikipedia, which adds that MJ personally endorsed that reconstruction.

  The Sotheby’s pair covered below was a game-worn 1985 Air Jordan 1 in the same red, white and black, according to CNBC. For the rest of the line, see our visual guide to everything Air Jordan.

  What sets the Royal colorway apart?

  Royal is the black and royal blue Air Jordan 1, and Complex wrote in 2017 that MJ never wore it on an NBA court, even as a member of the Wizards. The pair appears instead in a Chuck Kuhn runway photo, in which he wore the matching royal-and-black flight suit, and which became one of the earliest Air Jordan posters.

  

  In Jordan Brand’s own story, as Complex retold it, royal and black was “apparently his favorite color combination.” We treat that line as the brand’s account, since the brand is the one telling it. Complex counted the re-release it covered on 31 March 2017 as the first since 2013 and the fourth since 1985.

  More on the pair sits in our Air Jordan 1 Royal Blue article.

  How do the Black Toe and Shadow pairs fit in?

  The Black Toe is the white, black and varsity red Air Jordan 1, and one documented return was the Old Love New Love pack of 21 April 2007. According to Wikipedia, that two-pair package paired the original Black Toes with a new Black, Varsity Maize and White pair and sold for $200.

  

  The Shadow is another Air Jordan 1 colorway, and Complex lists Shadows among the pairs MJ never wore on an NBA court. Aleali May’s Satin Shadow, made of black corduroy and grey satin, was her first Jordan sneaker and was released on 28 October 2017, according to Wikipedia’s Aleali May entry.

  

  We could not confirm the first release year or the later retro years of either pair from a page we opened, so this article does not give them.

  What have record sneaker auctions paid?

  A game-worn, signed pair of 1985 Air Jordan 1s sold for $560,000 at Sotheby’s on 17 May 2020, according to Guinness World Records. Guinness says the estimate was $100,000 to $150,000 and that bidding rose by $300,000 in the final twenty minutes. The pair was mismatched in size, a 13 on the left and a 13.5 on the right, according to CNBC. Later results passed it, as the table shows.

  Date	Pair	Price	Source
  23 July 2019	1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat “Moon Shoe”	$437,500	Guinness World Records
  17 May 2020	Game-worn, signed 1985 Air Jordan 1s	$560,000	Guinness World Records, CNBC
  August 2020	Shoes worn in the 26 August 1985 Trieste exhibition game	$615,000	Wikipedia
  2021	Game-worn Nike Air Ships	$1.472 million	CBS News
  11 April 2023	Air Jordan 13s from Game 2 of the 1998 NBA Finals	$2.2 million	CBS News

  The 2021 and 2023 rows come from CBS News, and the August 2020 row from Wikipedia’s Michael Jordan entry. Market prices move and are shown for reference, not as a promise. Resale prices for ordinary retail pairs change day to day, so we give none here. Our roundup of the most expensive sneakers sold at auction covers more of them.

  What does Bred mean?

  Bred is shorthand for black and red. CBS News used it that way, calling the Air Jordan 13s “the Bred Air Jordans as a shorthand for the black and red color scheme.”