The Air Jordan XI By Designer Tinker Hatfield

The Air Jordan XI (11) is considered the most aesthetically pleasing basketball shoe, or athletic shoe, ever created. The shoe is highly coveted by collectors and sneaker enthusiasts and considered the greatest Air Jordan shoe of all time. The shoe is a unity of elegance and to this day has no equal.

The use of materials blend naturally with the smooth flowing lines of the shoe providing continuation. This enables each material, from the non-traditional nylon mesh and contemporary full grain leather upper, to the classic patent leather encapsulating the foot from toe to heel, to the innovative phylon midsole and clear rubber outsole, and the pioneering carbon fiber shank plate, to cascade into eachother seamlessly. This shoe is where the old shoe of history met the new shoe of the future.

The introduction of the carbon fiber shank plate is what Michael Jordan credits to being able to extend his career. The plate alleviated pressure on his knees and some form of a carbon fiber shank plate has been in every numbered Air Jordan since.

The use of a perennially classic material from men’s formal footwear, patent leather, on a basketball shoe was unheard of and a daring choice and is what has garnered the most attention since it was originally released in 1995.

One of these materials or innovative features showcased alone on a shoe would be novel. But this shoe articulated all of them into one shoe that would forever change how basketball shoes were viewed and how they were designed. The materials create an asymmetrical balance in that each piece could be a focal point in its own right but they all create a tension that balance the shoe and hold it together visually. Any one part of the shoe doesn’t make it special. What makes it special is all of the components coming together in the right places, at the right time, all propelled by the genius of Tinker Hatfield and the ability of Michael Jordan. The inspiration and mystique of the shoe and what it represents and has become is so much more than the physical shoe or any one thing that comprises it.

Tinker Hatfield had introduced style and fashion through innovation to the otherwise utilitarian world of the basketball shoe. It has never been the same since.

"Tinker made them shine.

Mike made them fly.

You made them iconic."
-Message Inside Air Jordan XI Space Jam 2009 Packaging-

Take a closer look with the video by sneakernews.com from YouTube.