CHICAGO – Nike is the biggest shoe brand in the world. When the company signed Michael Jordan in 1984, nobody could’ve predicted the global impact that has evolved from basketball to boardrooms. It all started with the first Air Jordan’s. 

“If you think back to the 1980s when this shoe was first revealed, it wasn’t more so, just the fact that it’s a new high top that Nike was unveiling,” said Shay Belvin, co-owner of Sneakerhead University. “It was more going against the status quo. I think people love going against the status quo, so it’ll always be relevant.”

Back in the early 1980s, Nike wasn’t as profitable or popular as brands like Adidas and Converse. Then came the Nike Air Jordan with its high-top silhouette and bold color scheme. Nike projected 100,000 pairs in the first year but ended up selling 1.5 million pairs in the first six weeks. Forty years after its original release in 1985, the shoe is even more popular today.

“Forty years ago, I grew up with that shoe,” said Lavelle Sykes, co-owner of Succezz Streetwear Boutique in the South Loop. “So I like it, my sons like it, my daughters like it. Jordans are a family shoe.”

Succezz was one of only 23 stores across the country that carried the re-release of The iconic Jordan 1 Bred’s.

Bobby Simmons co-owns Succezz along with Sykes. The Chicago native played in the NBA for 10 seasons and was a Jordan brand athlete. 

“Collectively as a whole, it’s a staple,” said Simmons. “When you think of this sneaker, you think of Chicago. It was the culture of Chicago. Everyone says Michael Jordan is from Chicago. You know, he had a nice base here. He brought six championships to the city. And so as a whole, collectively, anyone that played basketball always wanted to wear a pair of Michael Jordans.”

In a lot of ways, the Nike Air Jordan 1’s are a love letter to the city of Chicago.

At Sneakerhead University on South State Street they created a flower mural of the Jordan 1’s. It’s part of an exhibit that celebrates the cultural influence of what Chicagoans refer to as the Mike’s. Visitors also have a chance to create their own version of the Jordan 1’s. 

The Nike Air Jordans have lasted four decades, and the future of the iconic shoe is under the direction of a Chicagoan. 

“I thought he was a superhero, so the 1988 Dunk competition confirmed what I believed in my 7-year-old mind, that he actually could fly,” said Jason Mayden.

That experience led the South Side native to pursue a career in the footwear industry. He designed the Air Jordan 17 mules and now serves as the Jordan Brand Chief Design Officer.

“It was modern architecture for me. It was the first time that high-level design had been introduced into street culture in that way. And I couldn’t get enough of it. I tell everyone at work that we don’t call them Jordans in Chicago, we call them the Mike’s. We’re on a first name basis with the product.”

Mayden explains why this shoe means so much to the city of Chicago. 

“He fulfilled the promise of greatness that we knew we had within our city because what a lot of us know is he came at a time when we lost [Benji Wilson] and Harold Washington. We had these mighty men that fell and then this guy from North Carolina shows up and we had high expectations for him and he exceeded them. He put himself into the city by playing pickup basketball, being visible on the West Side and the South Side.”

“So the product is honestly, it’s a timestamp. It’s a timestamp that signifies that Chicago is unlike any other city on the planet because of its origins with DuSable, because of its repository of greatness that migrated from the South during the Great Migration. It’s influencing music, fashion, art, and culture. Michael embodied everything that we knew we had, and he took it around the world. So this product is honestly, it’s a mirror of Chicago,” Mayden said.

Mayden has also written a children’s book to help guide the next generation of designers. 

“I was a kid who was quiet, you know,” Mayden said. “I’m neurodivergent. I was into things that my friends weren’t into, and I used that as research. I got a chance to study everybody because nobody really paid attention to me. I was a smart kid in a wild part of the city. I think that’s what creativity really allowed me to explore my ideas. Creativity will be one of the most important skill sets in the modern economy because it won’t be about skill set, it’ll be about mindset. And the people who have the best ideas will win. So that’s what I’m encouraging through that book is to look at creativity as a form of altruistic rebellion, to express who you are to history, not just to your neighborhood.”