#SneakerWednesday - May

Air Jordan 6 "Infrared Salesman" - May 6th

Today on #SneakerWednesday, after a break last week, and a delay the week prior, it is the Air Jordan 6 "Infrared Salesman", also known as the "Reverse Infrared", released this February!

The story behind this one is simple, but I think it's neat, a 1999 catalogue meant for retailers contained this precise colorway, but it never made to retail. The Black Infrared AJ6 that actually release has an inverted palete on the midsole, the front has the black where the red is, and vice-versa (photo on the replies).

Because it was on a catalogue for retailers it became known as the Salesman, appropriately. Despite being kind of special, it is worth noting this is a GR (General Release), which means it was generally available, and you can find for roughly retail prices, and even in stock in some retailers.

Extra: A GR is a sneaker release that made general stores, so it is not restricted to high-end boutiques, these are still limited, when they get sold out, they don't come back (until the brand decides they come back). The other common forms of release are Tier 0 releases, exclusive to boutiques (and apps like Confirmed or SNKRS, depending on the release), and Evergreens, which you can find everywhere all the time. It's not exactly about stock (though naturally GRs have much higher stock than Tier 0s), but about who gets to sell the sneakers.

Air Jordan 1 "Chicago Lost and Found"

#SneakerWednesday today features the first time I talk about sneakers I do own! At least in terms or specific colorways, since I own one Puma Mostro (not the one I decided to use as image however). The one and only: Air Jordan 1 High "Chicago Lost and Found"!

This one has history both ways, in terms of what the Chicago colorway means, and what the Lost and Found means. First, the Chicago is one of the originals colorways of the AJ1, and this one Michael Jordan did actually use on the NBA, alongside the Black Toe. Despite the legendary status that the Bred/Banned colorway has, or maybe because of it, Nike loves releasing versions of any sneakers with it, be in different materials, altered, or just other shoes, like the Air Force 1 Bred, released in multiple heights even. The Chicago, however, remains much more elusive, with almost every release of it carrying a legendary status, even if it is a GR like today's case.

You see the Chicago as the way of drawing sneakers. Cool shoes? Draw an AJ1 Chicago. Which sneakers Miles Morales uses in some outfits as Spider-Man? AJ1 Chicago. Cover for a book about sneakers? Consider the AJ1 Chicago. It is this iconic, the one colorway of the one sneaker.

On the earlier times you would see the Chicago with black shoelaces, that is the original look, but as the Jordan line shifted towards a lifestyle look more than a basketball one, white laces kind of became the ones you use for photoshoots. Many releases, including this one, feature both, giving you a choice.

Now, for the Lost and Found part: this release attempts to tell a story: you, sneakerhead, found an old pair of Chicagos from 1986 on a dusty warehouse, sold by a Mom and Pop store, mismatched box, with an old receipt inside. The white leather panels are crackling, and the black ankle is also crumbling, showing the material beneath. These are real age signs of the AJ1, mind you, and this is not a cosmetic paint job, it is actual cracked leather. It is some of the coolest storytelling I've seen in a product in a long time quite honestly, and it shows because despite the fact this was mass produced, it still goes for retail or above on resale. People like this.

For the photos I bring some of my own for once.

Nike Air Force 1 LX "Reveal" - May 21th

Once again a late #SneakerWednesday. I'm not good with dates.

Simple one, but hey if you want a cool and unique design, hard to find anything more unique. The Nike Air Force 1 LX "Reveal", aka the Tear Away. Quite an unique gimmick, the upper is made of a thin canvas layer, and you see those scissor marks? The entire point is that you should cut it open, because beneath the canvas is brightly colored premium leather panels.

This way you can show as much as you want of color, or keep the canvas layer if you want. It's a nod to the DIY part of sneaker culture that has been sadly forgotten with time as we worry with deadstock looks and resale.

Air Jordan 3 "Tinker Hatfield" - May 27th

This week, #SneakerWednesday is about the Air Jordan 3 "Tinker Hatfield". For those thar don't know, Hatfield is the designer behind the Air Jordan 3-15, plus a few others. He is essentially a legend of design, and is held in immense regard not only by sneakerheads, but by designers in general. The Air Jordan 3 was a big change, the 1 was iconic, the 2 was "a failure", enough to almost make Michael Jordan quit to sign a deal with Adidas (fun fact, Peter Moore, the AJ1 legendary designer, was behind this, he had left Nike at that point). In that light, came Hatfield to somehow pull a miracle, and a miracle he did. The 3 is a completely different design philosophy than the 1, gone are the big bold leather panels, now we have premium leather upper, the elephant print details, and a much more minimalist look, the catch? No swoosh. Alright, the 2 already did not have the swoosh, but this trend is often given to the 3, given the resounding success it achieved. From here on out, no Jordan would carry the swoosh anymore besides the 1 (Nike Air logo not counting). But, hang on a second, this has a swoosh! A stylized, much smaller swoosh, but a swoosh! And that is because this is a special edition of the 3, inspired by the drawings Hatfield made during the design process, when the swoosh was still on the table. Leaving us with a never seen before vibe on the 3, it is much more busy and "classic basketball" feeling than the normal 3s, and for that I think it is great.