As the festive season reaches its peak, the most anticipated sneaker release of the year is finally here! Any sneaker or Michael Jordan fan will know by now that the Air Jordan 11 ‘Concord’ will be released globally (including Singapore) on 23 December 2011.
Originally released in 1995, the Air Jordan 11 ‘Concord’ was last retro-ed in 2000. Following an eleven-year hiatus, the ‘Concord’ Air Jordan 11 will finally have a second retro drop.
The sneaker is packaged in a special drawer box with ‘Concord’ shoe inserts. Uncover the drawer box and you will be faced with 2 sayings – “Tinker made them shine” and “You made them iconic”. “Tinker made them shine” refers to designer Tinker Hatfield using black patent leather on a sneaker which was unheard of in those days and “You made them iconic” refers to the fact that the Jordan 11 ranks as the one of the most sought after Jordan shoes in the whole Jordan line.
A brief history – the Air Jordan 11 model was designed by Tinker Hatfield. While Jordan was still pursuing a career in baseball, Hatfield designed the shoe in hopes that Michael would eventually wear it if he returned to the NBA.
The Jordan 11 was meant to stand out with a fusion of performance and style. Taken from the world of high-end mountaineering backpacks, the cordura nylon upper gave the Air Jordan 11 model lightweight durability. Further innovation came with the use of a carbon fiber plate on the sole of the shoe that can be seen underneath the clear outsole, which gave the shoe exceptional torsional rigidity. The most visually distinct aspect of the shoe was its shiny patent leather mid and toebox. The shiny leather gave the XI what many described as a ‘formal’ look – a fact that many owners of the shoe took advantage of and paired the shoe off the court with business suits in substitution for dress shoes.
The most interesting part of these sneakers is that they were ‘sampled’ during the playoffs of the year of Jordan’s first return (1995) and Michael was not even supposed to wear them. The folks had no choice but to make it a production model and the decision turned out to be a good one.
Join the frenzy and cop yourself a pair on the launch day! Available at Limited Edt at Queensway, Limited Edt Vault at 313@ Somerset and Limited Edt Chamber at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, the Air Jordan 11 ‘Concord’ will be available in men’s, women’s, kids’ and infant sizes. For more information, visit www.limitededt.com.