Jordan Brand has done it again. Thirty-five years after the debut of the Air Jordan 1, the brand shows that they are far from finished when it comes to taking their OG shoe to new places. The upcoming Air Jordan 1 Hi 85 “Varsity Red” takes a flipped approach to the iconic Black/Varsity Red colorway (aka “Banned”, aka “Bred”).
While the untrained eye might not be able to immediately spot the difference if one were to be walking by, the shoe sports the same colors as the OG except for along the laces, toecap, and toe box. While the change is rather subtle, the shoe looks fantastic and as good or better than many original Air Jordan 1s similar to the Bred Toes. Similarly to the aforementioned, the shoe looks in many ways like it could have been an ’85 release.
February will be a monumental month for Jordan Brand as the line celebrates a number of milestone anniversaries associated with the Greatest Of All Time along with the city of Chicago playing host to NBA All-Star Weekend. While the release info for this Air Jordan 1 has not officially been announced, lots of signs are pointing towards a drop in the middle of February to coincide with the big weekend.
Pairs of the shoe have floated around early in the Chicago area and something to note is that the shoes come accompanied by a dustbag that is individually numbered XX,XXX/23,000 indicating a run of 23,000 pairs.
A subtle OG touch hits the shoe that is sure to be appreciated by OG Jordan heads with the original hangtag that features young Michael Jordan in his Jumpman pose above the Chicago skyline.
Another flip is in the box itself as the box will come with a black and red inverse of the traditional Air Jordan 1 box similar to what was done with the UNC to Chicago Air Jordan 1.
Check out additional on-foot shots of the kicks below and stay up to date with Nice Kicks for all of the 2020 Air Jordan releases.
Air Jordan 1 High Varsity Red
Colorway: Varsity Red/Varsity Red-Summit White-Black
Product #: BQ4422-600
Release Date: February 2020
Price: $200
Photos by @sneakerpro.soles, @hanzuying, and @solebyJC.
