This story appears in SLAM KICKS 28. Available now.
It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Brooklyn and Jordan Brand is keeping everything hush-hush. The only semblance of light in the room radiates from the subtle hits of fire red that shine overhead. Thirty-nine sneakers are lined up in order from the inaugural icon, the Air Jordan I, to last year’s evolution, the Air Jordan XXXIX. One fluorescent light shines alone to reveal an unoccupied space. A secret is lurking, waiting to be unveiled. That’s when Leo Chang, Jordan Brand’s Senior Creative Director of Global Sport, unveils what’s been kept under lock and key, an official look at the Air Jordan 40.
“When the design team came together to start this process on the 40, we felt the gravity of the legacy that was in the other room,” Chang says, as he motions over to the 39 other Air Jordan silhouettes that are lined up in the distance. “And to be able to fill that last spotlight that was empty in there, and the weight of that. And so really, we felt like you got to start with the first thing, which is performance. And that’s what we’re known for. And that’s something that we want to start with…the best-in-class performance.”
Three colorways sit directly behind him, awaiting the world’s vision. “The Classic,” “Dusty Rose” and “Blue Suede” ensembles will kick off an eerily tight run of nine colorways throughout the model’s life cycle.
Jared ebanks 