Air Jordan Origins: The White/Red XIV

With the retro release of the Air Jordan XIV right around the corner, we thought it would be appropriate to give you a flashback to the original version of the sneaker that hit way back in 1998. The shoe first arrived at what was a bit of a transition period for Jordan Brand as a whole, with Michael closing the book on his second stint in the NBA and Tinker Hatfield opting to step down from his design role after the release of the subsequent Air Jordan XV. The silhouette nonetheless garnered notoriety, with the other Bulls-centric colorway of course being immortalized in the ‘Last Shot’ moment during Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. And while this home version isn’t tied with any epic moment in MJ’s career, it still bears all the ingredients of a classic.

The Ferrari inspired design lets a clean white dominate the upper, which is broken up by the alternation between the swooping perforated lines of the midsection and the solid leather that hits on the toe cap and the rear. The varsity red sectioning creeps up from the bottom of the shoe, striping the midsole and clutching the toe area with the teeth-like supports. The red treatment is one of the more significant differences from the OG pictured here and the upcoming retro version, with the original appearing just a bit brighter and with a tad more pop to it. With that being said the OG and the retro remain thankfully quite close, with the Air Jordan XIV being one of the first models to arrive after Jordan Brand’s establishing itself as an autonomous entity from Nike. This means the 2012 version doesn’t suffer from any severe alterations to the original equation. Click through the photos to get a proper history lesson on the OG Air Jordan XIV in white/varsity red, and if you feel like adding these to your collection then check out the auction from koolkicks on eBay.