Jordan 11 Retro

This dark, stealthy Jordan 11 Retro comes in a sleek design adorned with a series of compelling details. Its outsole has a translucent indigo blue finish, revealing the sturdy carbon fibre plate behind it, which plays a stabilising role underfoot, and the white outline of a Jumpman in the centre. The sneaker’s titular Gamma Blue tone highlights the outsole, appearing on the oddly shaped pods in the heel and forefoot, whose herringbone indentations augment the wavy grip lines found across the rest of the feature. Parts of this outsole wrap up around the black Phylon foam midsole, most noticeably on the toe, and when viewed from the medial side, a small section of the honeycomb pattern on the carbon fibre shank is visible. A full-length Air unit has been placed inside the sole unit for maximum comfort.

On the upper, a bold patent leather mudguard circumnavigates the entire shoe, its glossy black surface creating a powerful sleekness from heel to toe. Its wavy upper edge is lined with delicate stitching, and above that is a black ballistic mesh that supplies both ventilation and flexibility over the top of the foot. Strips of black fabric reach upwards from the seams at the bottom of the mesh to the sides of the tongue, where they form looped eyelets for the black laces to thread through. The tongue is coated in the same black material as the quarter panel that surrounds it, and a black band through its centre contains Jordan and Jumpman text in a cool Varsity Maize, while a Gamma Blue Jumpman logo adds an intriguing tonal variation between the two words.

More eye-catching branding effects show up elsewhere on the sneaker. Firstly, there is a Varsity Maize Jumpman on the black insole and a smaller Gamma Blue one on the underside of the tongue. Above the patent leather that runs around the back of the shoe is a black leather overlay with a large Gamma Blue Jumpman embroidered into its lateral side. Next to this, on the softer nylon tab that reaches down from the inside of the collar is Jordan’s jersey number of 23. It has been pressed into the black material in Varsity Maize, for an attention grabbing contrast that completes this Jordan 11 in style.