In the spring of 2001, the sneaker game was in a season of transition.
Michael Jordan was retired, the Dunk was yet to become a skateboarding shoe, and Kanye West was only known through liner notes.
Around the NBA, the likes of Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, and Vince Carter competed for Air apparent, all trying to fill the shoes of the leaping logo who left the game. Signature basketball shoes were suddenly too innovative for denim yet retro releases could be copped for retail if you got to the mall early enough.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
“It was a weird period,” recalls Brian Romney, a lifelong Jordan collector. “If you were a Nike purist, you weren’t going with Reebok Iversons or Kobe at adidas.”
(Image via Pintrest)
As a father, architect, and the man behind the page @OGSneakerNerd, Brian’s connection to footwear runs deep in 2021.
However 20 years ago in 2001, the era of sneakers and his season of life were at an odd spot.
“At this point, I’m 26 years old so I’m kind of moving into adulthood,” Brian looks back at his station of life. “And the player I love is gone, so what’s my connection to this? I still loved sneakers but it was a bit of a dark period.”
Regardless of where your taste, buying power or style leaned, it was an odd moment yet exciting era for all involved. For sneakerheads in their teens, young signature athletes were finding their footing through new tech and aggressive advertising. For OG collectors that came up with Michael Jordan, their guy was no longer in the backcourt but rather the front office, with new Air Jordans releases but new faces endorsing them.
All the while, the tale of the greatest player to ever lace them up was being both retold and restyled. In 1999, Michael Jordan’s first full calendar year out of the limelight since sinking the Jazz, retro Air Jordans were back on the market.
The Air Jordan 4 returned in colorways original and new, offering contrast to a mall wall that also featured the new Air Jordan 14. The next year, both the Air Jordan 5 and Air Jordan 6 received the retro and retro+ treatment, adding nostalgia to a lineup led by the polarizing Air Jordan 15.
However, one shoe outshined them all as both an OG and a retro: the patent leather and all-around perfect Air Jordan 11.
(Image via Tar Heel Blog)
Back for the first time despite debuting just five years prior, the 2000 Air Jordan 11 “Concord” and “Space Jam” launches absolutely flipped the sneaker game upside down, causing commotion in the fourth quarter of the first year of the aughts.
The pandemonium proved prophetic: old shoes would dominate the new millennium.
However, could they do so in new themes?
“Initially, the non-OG colorways I was not excited about,” says Brian. “Just because it was brand new. In 1994 and 1995, we had the OG colorways 3s, 2s and 1s then in 1999 and 2000 we got the 4s and the 5s in OG colorways.”
However, it wasn’t all original colorways coming back for the newly minted Jordan Brand.
Always popular on and off court, but becoming dated for play by modern measures, new colorways of old Jordans were starting to release to mixed reviews.
(Image via Eastbay Blog)
Whether revising the palette, materials, or branding, many who grew up adoring Mike on court weren’t feeling the fashion-oriented deviations of the shoes that made them dream they could fly.
“It was like, ‘What are we doing to these classics?’” Brian says on the sentiment around retro+ releases. “You’re stuck in your ways.”
For many, telling the story of Michael Jordan’s Laney High ascent in the early ‘80s didn’t make sense on a model like the Air Jordan 5 that originally released in 1990. Furthermore, removing the mesh netting, rubber wings and Nike Air heel branding on the “Oreo” Air Jordan 4 felt more trick than treat.
At the turn of the century, new colors on old shoes were a tough sell to Day 1 purists.
Well, all but one shoe.
“The Cool Grey 11 was such a good looking shoe,” admits Brian. “It just looked so damn good, you couldn’t deny that you had to have them – regardless of your thoughts on OG colorways versus retro colorways.”
(Image via Nike)
Because of this, Brian headed to Athlete’s Foot at Orange County’s outdoor mall, The Block. It was a cold March morning by Southern California standards and a misty one at that.
Aside from fans lining up for a new take on an old shoe, something else was different.
It was a Saturday.
For years, Air Jordan releases took place on Wednesdays. Because of this, shoes moved throughout the week with the most dedicated of fans cutting class or calling in sick to ensure they copped their kicks. Generally speaking, only a handful of Air Jordan drops took place over the course of a year, not causing loyalists to lose out on homeroom attendance or PTO.
However, by 2001, the retro rate had increased with the new signature model and old favorites adding to the breadth of Jordan Brand drops.
The previous fall, the first-ever Air Jordan 11 Retro “Concord” drop sold so fast that moms were offering above retail in cash just to take home a pair to their kid. In January of 2001, the Air Jordan 11 Retro “Columbia” returned on a Wednesday, selling through despite dropping in what’s typically the slowest season for retail in the calendar year.
(Image via Eastbay Blog)
That February, Jordan Brand revised their strategy by releasing the Black/Red Air Jordan 16 on Saturday, February 17.
The launch of the latest performance model came off the heels of Ray Allen, Michael Finley, Quentin Richardson, and Darius Miles all debuting the new silo on court at All-Star Weekend. It also happened to coincide with Mike’s birthday.
For the “Cool Grey” Air Jordan 11 Retro release, a Saturday drop date was set, creating the formula for almost all retro releases from Jordan Brand for going on two decades now. Brian was hip to the launch date after seeing the shoe appear in the Kicks on Court section of SLAM Magazine.
As it turned out, so were a legion of kids who no longer had to play hooky for a chance to cop on drop date.
“I got there early and there was one kid in front of me who was 15,” Brian looks back at the misty Saturday morning. “I remember saying, ‘What do you care about these for? You’ve never even seen Jordan play!’ I just thought it was funny. Now that kid’s 35.”
(Image via OG Sneaker Nerd)
After Brian arrived, more and more sneakerheads began to follow. Despite being a chilly March morning in Orange County, fans of Michael Jordan filed in to purchase a new colorway that up to that point the GOAT had never played in.
“The line got intense,” Brian says. “This was 2001 so there was no social media and the internet is kind of still in its infancy. But people are talking about riots that are happening up in LA county. People throwing chairs through the windows of Foot Lockers just miles away. I was so thankful that we weren’t in that mess.”
As the second person in line, Brian and the 15-year-old in front of him were called into the Athlete’s Foot as the employees lifted up the gate and let both of them secure their size.
Despite the chaos up the road in Los Angeles, it was an easy cop with only one regret.
“I would’ve doubled up if I could have afforded it,” notes Brian. “But I was a young, struggling single guy. I kept them on ice for years.”
In the months to follow, the energy around the Air Jordan 11 Retro would only intensify despite all original colorways already releasing at retail.
Whether it was the crossover appeal of the “Cool Grey” colorway or the undeniable infatuation with patent leather, new variations even with new cuts had the sneaker culture going nuts.
“A couple months later I was in Santa Barbara and I got in line for the low top ‘Columbia Blue’ and ‘Varsity Red’ 11s,” Brian looks back. “I got in line at 4 in the morning. I waited in line and it was so cold and people were so agitated. People started saying, ‘If people come out with two boxes, I’m kicking their ass!’”
Crazy as it may seem, the world was obsessed with Air Jordans all over again.
(Image via HighSnobiety)
That year, the Air Jordan 11 Retro relished in new and old colorways. The buzz around retro releases added energy to the return of the “Banned” and “Royal” Air Jordan 1s and Black/Cement Air Jordan 3, even if the hype wasn’t as pronounced as their patent leather peer.
Even wilder?
Michael Jordan was back on court, returning to the game as a member of the Washington Wizards. Over the course of his two-year stint in DC, the GOAT rocked the “Cool Grey” Air Jordan 11 Retro in NBA action, providing full-circle closure to OG fans who still may have felt sideways about copping a new colorway.
In the years that followed, sneaker culture would reset and evolve in ways. Old models continued to become the toast of the culture while new Nike signees such as LeBron James and sneaker free agent Kobe Bryant brought youthful narratives and progressive innovation to the space.
While the brand that Brian fell in love with was back on the rise, a new love in Brian’s life was once again resetting his relationship with sneakers.
(Image via Nike)
Getting married in 2003, Brian’s life was shifting seasons. By that spring, Michael Jordan was once again retired from basketball and Brian had started selling off shoes to take care of the wedding and his growing family.
Somehow, the “Cool Grey” 11s didn’t end up being purchased, allowing Brian to un-DS his pair years after he was second in line at The Block.
Now a father, Brian enjoys seeing his children enjoy modern sneaker culture and still picks up pairs when he gets the chance. In fact, Brian even won a pair of 2021 “Cool Grey” Air Jordan 11 Retros on the recent Shock Drop.
“I hope to hit another pair on the 11th,” smiles Brian. “I’d be happy to wear one and let one sit.”
Just like life, the sneaker game is always transitioning.
Even so, the more things change, the more things stay the same.
Special thanks to @scollard23
