The “Military Black” Air Jordan 4s were released in May of this year, but a bombshell discovery revealed that the colorway was on the horizon nearly 33 years before. Could the recently released “Military Black” Air Jordan 4s could have been around earlier? Jordan historian and Jordan Brand 2 aficionado Sean Collard made a massive discovery recently while watching an ‘A Different World’ marathon.
Series star Kadeem Hardison was spotted wearing a pair of Jordan 4s with the exact color blocking of the Military Black 4s back in 1989 during an episode of A Different World. Kadeem Hardison is one of the most underrated fashion icons of the 1980s and 1990s, having a tight connection with Jordan Brand from the start, regularly wearing Jordans before they were released to the public. He regularly wore Jordans throughout the series’ six year run.
In response to Sean’s DM about the unreleased sneakers, Hardison confirmed that he did receive unreleased and sample sneakers from His Airness but forgot the story of how he acquired these sneakers exceptionally early. He rocked the Air Jordan 2s in School Days and Air Jordan 6s in the seminal hoop film “White Men Can’t Jump,” and Cement 3s in Keenan-Ivory Wayans’ “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.”
The sneaker looks precisely as you would expect the Jordan 4 to look in 1989, with Nike Air branding on the heel and Durabuck on the toecap instead of the suede seen on the “Military Black” 4s today. Does knowing that the ‘Military Black’ 4s were around in some fashion back in 1989 change your perspective on these sneakers?
