MJ & MJ getting their dance on
Who doesn’t remember that iconic moment when MJ had a cameo in the other MJ’s music video?! The year was 1993 and Jackson’s hit single ‘Jam’ was nominated for Best Choreography at the MTV Video Music Awards. All in part due to Jordan’s swift dance moves and Jackson’s superior ball handling skills, of course. Not only did the little back-and-forth clip of Jackson teaching Jordan the ‘Moonwalk’ and Jordan teaching Jackson how to handle the rock revolutionize the way sneaker companies approach TV-ads, but it also started the craze of specialized colorways being exclusively worn at the NBA’s annual All-Star Game.
MJ’s (Jordan, not Jackson) first sneaker designated as an “All-Star” shoe will finally make its highly anticipated return this Saturday and you’ll be glad to hear that this classic is true to it’s OG self with distinctive black and grey schemes, highlighted by familiar accents of yellow, green, blue and bordeaux, of course. Introduced as one of the original “Hare Jordan” VII releases, the ”Bordeauxs” feature a tribal-based tongue, a detail that draws inspiration from West African patterns extremely popular during the early stages of hip hops’ Golden Age. Unlike Jordan’s previous models, Tinker Hatfield‘s design on the AJ VII implemented one of Michael’s favorite concepts, the Nike Huarache.
Celebrating with Larry O’Brien, Nike Huaraches on feet
MJ putting the moves on Thunder Dan
Aside from the fact that this was the world’s first basketball sneaker with a trainers’ technology, it also was the first Jordan to completely ditch the Nike logo. In addition to the new look and full-on signature athlete aesthetic, Tinker Hatfield discarded the trademarked visible air unit in the heel portion of Jordan’s previous models. Without these two distinctive features, the ‘Bordeaux’ stands out as one of the most unusual color selections and on-court performance designs among OG Jordans.
The AJ VII ‘Bordeaux’ officially releases on July 18, 2015 so there’s a little wait left. But not to worry, we dug in the archives to bring you behind-the-scenes footage of the famed video. Go’head and practice your moves ’til Saturday…