Jeffrey Jason: Air Jordan 12
The Air Jordan 12 is my favorite Tinker Hatfield-designed sneaker of all time. I didn’t fall in love with the 12 because Tinker designed it, or because Michael wore it. I fell in love with the 12 in 1997 when I saw one of my teacher’s assistants rocking one White/Red 12 on one foot and one “Taxi” 12 on the other.
This was far before the Lance Mountain AJ 1, far before the “What The” series, and far before fragment worked its magic on the Dunk High. This was at a time when matching your clothes and shoes was of the utmost importance and when it separated the cool kids from the not-so-cool kids. Now while many of my peers thought that our teacher’s assistant looked stupid, I thought he looked FRESH. I didn’t just think that the one and one thing was fresh, I thought his whole outfit was fresh. He had on a pair of light denim jeans and a shirt that complimented his 12s perfectly. The shirt had one black stripe and one red stripe around the collar and around each arm hem.
That outfit didn’t just teach me how to get fresh, it taught me how to get fresh without having to dress like everyone else. That is something these kids these days know NOTHING about.
