First Women’s Air Jordan gets re-created to celebrate Women’s History Month
To the casual observer, the new Women’s Air Jordan OG sneaker, a collaboration between Los Angeles designer Melody Ehsani and Jordan Brand, may stand out for its reflective 3M piping and enlarged cherry emblem.Get more news about
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For Ehsani, the latest version of the shoe, which is being released during Women’s History Month, comes with a long history.
The sneaker was released in 1998 as the first Jordan created specifically for female athletes. It arrived just two years after the formation of the Women’s National Basketball Assn., which came 50 years after the start of the National Basketball Assn.A reissue of the original shoes with minor updates dropped in January and sold out quickly among a new generation of sneaker lovers. Another version called Barely Rose was released in a light pink colorway in February. Ehsani’s version of the shoe represents the first collaboration with an outside designer.
Ehsani, who played basketball throughout her youth and later interned for the NBA, remembers the effect the original shoes had when they first hit the market.
“It was sort of like a hidden gem [feeling] that they had,” said the L.A. native, who opened her first women’s streetwear store on Fairfax Avenue. “It was on the market for a very short period of time, or so it seemed. So when [Jordan Brand] asked me to bring it back, I kind of felt a little bit of pressure, but it was an honor.”According to a representative from Ehsani’s team, the shoes, which will retail for $150, and other goods will be available online at melodyehsani.com starting at 9 a.m. PST on Saturday. And the sneakers will be available globally on March 19 at select stores, on Nike’s website and on the SNKRS app.
Aleali May, the first woman to design a unisex sneaker for Jordan, owned the original version of the 1998 shoe in grade school. She said it was the right time to reintroduce the sneaker.This is the only silhouette [for women] that we have in the vault,” May said. “I think right now more than ever, at a time where streetwear is being highlighted at its highest peak, it’s important to teach girls who don’t know much about Jordan Brand and bring back a silhouette that a lot of women appreciate. … I feel like anytime after now would be a little too late.
“I basically trust anything she’ll make. It’s always going to be with a message,” May said of Ehsani. “It’s always going to be made with love. It’s always going to be considerate of other women, and it’s always very powerful. And again, she’s the OG so I’m like, ‘I don’t think you can ever miss.’”
The shoe release comes two months after the WNBA agreed to a salary increase for players as well as maternity and family planning benefits.
The Women’s Air Jordan OG sneaker also marks Ehsani’s second collaboration with Jordan Brand. Her first was a multicolored Air Jordan 1 Mid — part of the Fearless Ones collection — that featured a gold watch on the shoelace. The resale value of those sneakers is about $800 on e-commerce site StockX.