Jordan 3 Retro

One of the OG colourways of the classic silhouette, this Jordan 3 Retro is a faithful representation of the one first released in 1988. Among its many throwback features is the Cement Grey outsole, which has vivid flashes of Fire Red firstly in a pod below the forefoot, and then on the Nike lettering embossed into the white section below the centre of the heel. This latter part extends into the medial edge, while the former incorporates circular grip lines across its surface that, when combined with the more angular ones around the outsole’s edges and the star-shaped nodes on the toe, provides the wearer with comprehensive traction along the length of the foot.

While the rubber of the outsole wraps up around the front of the toe in white, the rest of the midsole is made of polyurethane in two stacked layers. The lower of these is entirely white and has a window in its heel to show off the shoe’s comfortable Air cushioning. In contrast, the one above it begins with a white section on the medial midfoot, before switching to Fire Red on the heel, the eye-catching tone going on to reach round the back of the foot and down the lateral flank.

Elsewhere, the upper brings in more bold styling to accent the elegant white leather that forms its main overlay and mudguard. One highlight can be seen around the collar, which reveals an underlayer of Fire Red leather filled with small ventilation holes. Another comes in more subtly on the lower part of the tongue and the upper part of the eyestay, both of which exhibit Cement Grey leather marked with yet more perforations, making the upper highly breathable. White pieces of TPU shaped into semi-circles emerge from the Cement Grey area beside the tongue, each one containing an eyelet to accommodate the white laces. Fire Red ringlets then act as the eyelets for the bottom half of the laces, and the uppermost ones are similarly coloured pieces of TPU set into the front of the collar.

Light grey padding lines the shoe’s inner walls, and Fire Red coats the insole and the back of the tongue. The use of this striking tone makes the Nike Air branding on the former and the patch on the latter stand out powerfully in white, with the same colours coming together on the back of the shoe to create more captivating branding effects. Here, though, the two tones have been inverted, with white providing the background for the Fire Red Nike Air logo that has been embossed onto the bottom of the heel panel. Above this, its top half has made space for a set of raised ridges that are easy to grip when pulling the shoe on. A compelling aesthetic has then been brought to the sneaker through the use of the AJ3’s famous elephant-print graphic on the toe and heel overlays, two differing shades of grey distinguishing the exotic pattern. Lastly, the white peak of the tongue hosts a Fire Red Jumpman logo, which has been artfully embroidered there for a bold finish to this iconic Air Jordan 3 colourway.