All about mocha

A rapper and a show

Since I purchased my most recent pair of Jordans and watched Nolan's The Odyssey, I have really thought about Travis Scott and the revolution mixed with mania that he ushered in with two 2019 releases: The Air Jordan 1 High Mocha and the 1 Low Mocha. Despite the name, the colorways are surprisingly different, and this blog post is more about the High, though much of what I say about the colors also applies to the Low.

If you are not into sneakers, it is really hard to explain what these mean in the community; very few sneakers have ever been more worthy of the title of "grail". It was a perfect storm: Travis Scott was at the peak of popularity, it was very scarce (as is usually the case with the guy), and the resale market was at an all-time high. The result is not just a cultural milestone and some very expensive sneakers: it made everyone stop and rethink the whole color theory of sneakers, especially on the Air Jordan 1.

We can talk a lot about the shoes, but what matters here are the colors: mocha, a brown. It sounds a bit garish, but for whatever reason this wasn't a color Jordans usually came in. You had whites, blacks, maybe greys, an assortment of bright colors, but brown? A muted color? It was so obvious: a subdued color that doesn't clash with most clothing, but isn't that "background" like a white or black. It's a middle ground that immediately found success in the streets. It wasn't just a grail: It was a very wearable grail.

80% of the Mocha for 20% of the price

Cool story, and you don't need to like Travis Scott to find the sneakers or the color cool, but wearable or not, those were reserved either for the lucky sneakerheads who got them on release, or for the people wealthy enough to pay the resale premiums. Which is actually a small part of the community, despite what it may seem from the outside.

Consider this a "trickle-down economics" version of sneaker design. The coveted ones came with new ideas, and those began to appear in general releases (GRs) too. And nothing better encapsulates this than the Air Jordan 1 High Dark Mocha. It is a very normal shoe, but you can see the inspiration. While the Travis Scotts had the brown on every panel, the Dark Mocha kept it only on the heel and ankle panels, leaving the eyestays and the mudguard (which are, respectively, the panels near the eyelets and near the toe box) as black smooth leather, normal Jordan 1 stuff.

Despite not going full in on the earth tones by utilizing a good amount of black, the shoe became an immediate hit. While it is a completely normal GR, to this day it commands retail pricing (or a bit more) on resale; why? Because being close to a Travis Scott is enough. It is wild to think this, but you often see comments of a colorway having "Mocha vibes"; people genuinely think these palettes are worth having. You could have 80% of the aesthetics for just 20% of the price. Since the Mochas go for almost a thousand dollars, you can find the dark mocha for about 200.

A new mocha?

This brings us to the recent release I alluded to at the start of the post: The Air Jordan 1 High Love Letter. Before it released, I saw some posts on Instagram talking about "mocha vibes" or "a new mocha". Truth be told, the Love Letter is not trying to do this, and it ends up being more a case of inspiration, but honestly? This may be the best part of it.

The 2020 Dark Mocha is notorious only because it looks kind of like the Travis Scotts; besides that, it is a very normal GR Jordan 1. One that would be completely forgettable if not for the fact it is clearly made to look like one of the biggest grails of modern sneaker history. The Love Letter, on the other hand, is trying something: it's inspired by Michael Jordan's goodbye letter to Basketball, featuring a heel and ankle panel that mimic the texture of a basketball, besides a nice suede on the eyestays and mudguard. It is literally made to be beaten up; those are all materials that look better with some use, and that is the point! Go out and use them, don't keep them locked up.

The biggest proof that the Love Letter isn't trying to be a mocha is the shoelaces. The most famous shoelaces for both the Dark Mocha and Travis Scott's are black; it is a seamless pairing, yet it is absent for the Love Letter. It comes only with dark red ones, to match the sole, or sail ones to match the base panels. Safe choices. Not that black is bold and innovative, but anyway.

But here is the kicker: they look amazing with black shoelaces! When I look at this and to a Dark Mocha, I can absolutely see the vibe here. This is why this is such a good pair, while it does its own thing, telling its own story; if you want, it can have "mocha vibes", best of both worlds if you ask me. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the Love Letter only saw moderate success. I think people like it, but it is not flying off the shelves; this should allow most people to grab a pair if they want. If you are lucky, maybe you can even grab them on sale in a few months.

Whenever you prefer to rock the shoelaces that come with it or something else, I really think Nike made an extremely cool GR for this year. We'd better enjoy these while we can; with Nike cutting the production of the AJ1 High for 2027, it might be a while before we see the next great GR.