How do you follow up the Air Jordan 1?

Somewhere in 1985, Peter Moore & Bruce Kilgore were given the brief. The duo took a considerable risk with the new model: going with a sporty-luxe, Swoosh-free design that was NOTHING like the AJ1. But that was half the point.

 wanted the Air Jordan 2 to be unique. Utilising original design language, manufacturing in Italy, and removing the swoosh for the first time ever. It also was the first basketball shoe to use a polyurethane midsole - a feature rumoured to have come about partly due to Jordan’s foot injury. Infamously, designer Peter Moore & marketing lead Rob Strasser left Nike after the Air Jordan 2 - with hopes of convincing Michael to do the same and start his own brand. This is heralded as one of the earliest precursors to Jordan Brand.

“It was the Air Jordan 2 that really set that model apart and gained ferocious acceptance with hip hop heads and ballplayers in New York,” Bobbito Garcia said in his 2003 classic book, Where’d You Get Those. “It was the first Nike basketball shoe that didn’t have the long swoosh on the upper. Even connoisseurs who rejected the shoe because of its popularity had to applaud the design.”

On Opening Night of the 1986-87 season, MJ debuted Air Jordan 2 in Madison Square Garden. Jordan scored 50 points in a win over the New York Knicks. He’d go on to drop 41 the next night, averaging 37.1 points per game that season - taking home his first of ten career scoring titles. Jordan became the first-ever NBA player with 200 steals and 100 blocks during the 1986-87 season. Jordan would go on to make his first NBA All-Star Team during the ’86-’87 season. MJ took home his first Slam Dunk contests trophy that year, and won his first scoring title. In ’86-87, he was also the first NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain to record 3,000 points in a season - all while wearing the AJ2.

• WMNS Air Jordan 2 Retro "Cool Grey"
• Women's US sizing
• Nubuck upper
• Suede quarter
• Ice blue accents
• Retro AJ2 "Wings" box
• FB8871-041
• This product is available to customers within Australia only