How Air Jordan made Nike the most popular Athletic Shoe Company

Before 1984 Nike had absolutely no credit in the basketball world, in fact it faced jeopardy from the fast paced sportswear market in general. They basically needed a way in which to reinvent themselves in order to appeal to the market once again, which is how the business relationship with Michael Jordan first came about. Nike saw an opportunity in Jordan and as a result signed a $2.5 million deal with him for five years; Nike now stands as the most popular athletic shoe company in existence.

Since its first release back in 1985 there have continually been new designs of the Air Jordan Athletic shoe released each year, even after Jordan retired from basketball. However when the first shoe was released back in 1985, things didn’t start out so smoothly and the release turned the athletic shoe industry upside down with some people praising its release while for others it caused nothing but controversy. For one this type of shoe had never been released in anything but white whereas the Air Jordans were black with bold red detail, causing them to soon be banned from the basketball league, a ban that Jordan himself broke time and time again, resulting in Nike getting fined but to Nike this was ok as people were starting to pay attention to the shoe. This attention soon became clear as many companies were starting to imitate the design in their own releases.

The designers responsible for the Air Jordans take aspects of Michael Jordans life, ideas and hobbies into account when producing the athletic shoes and as a result there are over 24 different models available. This offers an array of style, color and design for you to take advantage of; so basically with the amount of choice that is open to you, the Air Jordan makes the perfect shoe to be worn not just on the basketball court but also on a daily basis as well.

Each of the new Air Jordans that are created each push the boundaries of style and technology, an example of this can be seen within the third version of this athletic shoe that was created. This was designed by Tinker Hatfield and was the first within this product line to feature a visible air unit on the heel, similar to that of the Nike Air Max. Also within this version of the shoe, it was the first to feature the famous Jumpman logo. Out of all the sneakers that were produced within this brand it is this version that is said to be the favorite of Michael Jordan; in fact he wore this version during the 1988 Dunk Championship, which he went on to win along with many other historical events during his career. This shoe is definitely one of the most famous within the Air Jordan series.

The most recent release within this lineup comes curtsy of the Air Jordan 2009, which represents a sports shoe that uses technology known as Articulated Propulsion Technology, which is based around the carbon fiber prosthetic running technology. It is this increase in technology and the advancements that have come with it as well as Michael Jordans input that has pushed Nike to be the most popular Athletic Shoe Company in society today, a title that looks like its going to get stronger as more and more shoes are created and released.