The late Peter Moore’s Air Jordan 1 spawned a global icon that has had the culture in a vice grip for nearly 40 years. With that first iteration, Nike generated more than a dozen original colorways for the silhouette, including the “Chicago,” Black and Red or “Bred,” Michael Jordan’s favorite Royals, a University of North Carolina aka “UNC” colorway honoring his alma mater, and of course, the “Black Toe.” Though rarely sported on the court by His Airness, the Black Toe Jordan 1 is integral to his history.
The Chicago Bulls guard suited up in the iconic workout gear and the Black Toe 1s for the photoshoot that spawned the legendary Jumpman pose. With the unofficially named “Yellow Toe” Air Jordan 1 on the horizon, we’re looking back at the history of the “Toe” Jordan 1s, starting with the one that kicked it all off. The key feature of the series is the white side paneling and the black leather over the eyelets that travels down and surrounds the toe box. Except for the original iteration, the sneakers get their nicknames from the colors that fill the toe box area.
The original Air Jordan 1 “Black Toe” served as a sort of middle ground between the “Chicago” and “Bred” colorways. The sneaker features the white side panels of the “Chicago” colorway, but the Black overlays on the eyelets and around the toebox stemming from the “Bred” colorway form its namesake “Black Toe.” When the acclaimed colorway returned in 2016, it foreshadowed a wave of “toe” colorways that have become some of the most popular of the general release Jordans.
The first and most notable colorway to evolve the Black Toe formula actually didn’t receive the nickname name due to its unique lineage. The “Shattered Backboard” release in 2015 rebooted the look with its color blocking inspired by the uniforms MJ and his team wore during an exhibition game in Italy in the summer of 1985 right after his stellar rookie season, where he shattered the backboard with a thunderous dunk. The “Shattered Backboard” colorway revolutionized the series forever by adding in the colored toebox found on the original “Bred” colorway, making it somewhat of a hybrid colorway. Thanks in large part to its highly touted soft leather quality, a modern-day classic color-blocking scheme was created.
2018 was the year the “Toe series” emerged on its own with three still vaunted colorways released throughout that year each with subtle ties to Michael Jordan’s history. With a hit new colorway on its hands that it had yet to unlock, Jordan Brand had to start the “Toe series” off right with an homage to the OG. The Air Jordan 1 “Bred Toe” is one of the major highlights in the evolution of the original and the emergence of the new toe series. Created by Garren Strong and Eric Sandy, the 2018 colorway is the perfect merger between the classic “Bred” and the Black Toe colorways, with the toe box taking cues from the Banned Air Jordan 1.
Marco Negrete, SoleSavy’s VP of Communications and Content, was the lead writer for Jordan Brand at the time of this release and remembers the internal and external dialogue taking place while the nickname was born. “We didn’t officially call it the “Bred Toe” but we knew that’s what it would be known as. That’s the beauty of sneakers: the consumer and community around them continues to write its history. And that nickname stuck for every colorway that has followed.”
Much like the “Shattered Backboard” line, some of the “Toe” spin-offs have become so popular in their own right that they created their own distinction, like the “Pine Green” and “Court Purple” colorways released in 2018. Those two releases marked one of the most vaunted release days in recent history with both pairs releasing on September 22. The “Pine Green” colorway interpolated the colorways of one of Michael Jordan’s fiercest rivals in the Celtics with its green accents.
The accompanying “Court Purple” colorway added purple details on the toe box, ankle, and heel. The colorway also subtly paid homage to the Los Angeles Lakers whom Jordan and the Bulls defeated in the 1991 Finals to secure Jordan’s first NBA championship.
That year also marked a special release using the same colorblocking released at Art Basel in Miami. Jordan Brand ended 2018 with a collaboration with SoleFly that was evocative of the ‘Shattered Backboard’ colorway released a few years prior. SoleFly branding on the heel, green overlays around the toe box and eyelets as well as a deeper shade of orange give it a Miami Hurrianes-inspired look and mark the few differences between the Art Basel colorway and the ‘Shattered Backboard’ look.
2020 marked the year of the Air Jordan 1 High “Royal Toe,” which mixed the classic royal blue colorway with the signature black overlays and color blocking of the ‘Toe’ series. Still, a modest variation makes this slight colorway different from the rest of the collection. Together, the two colorways played a familiar but different song, like when a song samples your favorite early 2000s hit.
After a brief hiatus, 2022 brings the next big thing in the spin-off series. The long-awaited and oft-rumored Air Jordan 1 “Yellow Toe” or “Taxi” is finally making its way to the people. The Wu-Tang style colorway is perfect for the people really about getting their “CREAM.” The black and yellow combination has always been a hit colorway for Jordan Brand making this latest release one of the most awaited colors in a while. The Air Jordan 1 ‘Taxi’ releases on September 24 with a retail price of $180.
Stay tuned to SoleSavy for more sneaker-related news from your favorite brands, including Jordan Brand.
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