Different definitions of family share a sense of belonging and a capacity for growth, but there is much more. Groups that identify as family are, according to Jordan Brand, options for progress. At FOOTDISTRICT, we want to understand how Jordan has resonated with families of all kinds, and we do so through a series that tells their stories.
Having a video player in the 80s was like having a time machine. When Michael Jordan began to appear on screens in the mid-eighties, most children had only one option to watch him. Kike had a thousand opportunities after a series of strange events made him the first kid in the neighborhood with a video player. He could hit rewind and watch the same game over and over again, something essential in a house where sports were a big deal. Until then, he had access to the same information as everyone else, but he could replay it.
Then came a book that told the story of Nike and, of course, of Michael Jordan. Like all books, that one led to another, and that other one led to many more. Stories popped up in unexpected places: an advertising photographer, a retired coach, a hip-hop legend, an Oscar-winning filmmaker. They all had stories related to Jordan. He went from reading to listening and from there to writing, from accumulating stories to telling them. Among others, stories about Jordan. This opened up paths to people who knew much more: a player who talks about how sneakers are discussed in an NBA locker room, a designer who explains the meaning behind each line. If you like sneakers, you may have read some of the stories he has told over the last 20 years, on websites, in magazines, and wherever he could—often anonymously. Actually, this text could be one of them. His job has been to uncover stories that have remained hidden and bring them to light, being an amplifier for those whispered legends, making them accessible to all.
Irene often says that Kike is a historian because explaining that her husband writes about sneakers involves too much explanation. She then clarifies: a sneaker historian. Although, in reality, any story ends up being a story about sneakers. Irene is also the first to read them, correct them, and give her opinion on them, which has given her a deep and unexpected wisdom. She is an instructor, inside and outside the family, and the accumulation of stories she has corrected has expanded her training areas.
Irene belongs to a different generation—she was born at the same time as the Jordan 4, and for her, Michael Jordan is a ’90s pop icon, featured in ads where he flies towards the hoop and in Space Jam. Lupe was born in a home that blends the stories of Kike and Irene. Her generation will mix narratives, get closer to sport, culture, and perhaps understand that the revolutions of others hide the seeds of future revolutions.
The Jordan 4 “Red Cement” takes the style from one of the original combinations, “White Cement,” and mixes it with another classic, “Fire Red”. They will be available starting September 16th in TD, PS, GS, and adult sizes.