The Greatest Sneaker Moments of the '80s

Year: 1988
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan III

Spike Lee is the perfect example of someone who made his own future. In his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It, he played the role of Mars Blackmon, a flashily dressed bike messenger from Brooklyn who wore Cazals, a huge MARS chain and Air Jordans. Someone at Nike ad agency Wieden & Kennedy saw the film, and thought Lee would be the perfect person to helm the Air Jordan campaign. Mars Blackmon returned in 1988, and nothing in sneakers would be the same.

Year: 1989
Sneaker: Airwalk Prototype

As of the late '80s, the idea of a skate shoe was simple-high or low, with a vulcanized sole for board feel. Basically, Vans. In 1986 a guy named Bill Mann-or, more accurately, his 11-year-old son Mac-thought there was a lot of room for improvement. The company Mann founded, Airwalk, started with basic Chuck Taylor clones in wild colors, but in 1989 introduced the Prototype, an armored cupsole hightop that became the first "modern" skate shoe. Took long enough.

Year: 1986
Sneaker: ASICS GT-II

Japan's Onitsuka Tiger was founded in 1949, and, among other things, was crucial in the founding of a little American company called Nike. In 1977 the company became known as ASICS, and in 1986 they introduced what would become their signature technology. The sleek GT-II came equipped with something called ASICS GEL, which served much the same purpose as Nike's Air, only more glutinously. With its 30th anniversary approaching, one could say it was a success.

Year: 1983
Sneaker: New Balance 990

Some things never change. One is that a sneaker with a high price tag-no matter how nondescript-will stand as a status symbol to some. So when New Balance broke the $100 barrier with the 990 in 1983, it wasn't only serious runners who took note. And once the $100 mark was topped, it was only a matter of time before others broke it, too.

Year: 1986
Sneaker: Pony City Light

No one, including teammate and defending champ Dominique Wilkins, knew quite what to expect from 5-7 Spud Webb in the 1986 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Webb had kept his preparations mostly secret, and while he had thrown down in games, nothing could prepare the crowd-or his competitors-for what was to come next. Not only did Webb show he belonged, he decisively won the contest in front of his hometown fans in Dallas. The Pony City Lights had a face-and a legacy.

Year: 1987
Sneaker: Nike Air Max

The Air gets bigger. As Nike increased the size of their gas-filled cushioning units, there was a bit of an engineering problem to sort out-namely how to squeeze the Air into a traditional foam midsole. A museum in Paris gave Tinker Hatfield the solution: Why not put the tech on the outside? Carved windows in the foam created "windows" of Air, as well as a whole new category-Air Max. A revolution, if you will.

Year: 1986
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan

It would have been unfair to expect much from Michael Jordan in the 1986 NBA Playoffs. For starters, he had missed all but 18 games of the regular season after breaking his foot in the third game. He returned over the Bulls' objections, and played in just 15 games before facing off against the Boston Celtics, who had won an NBA-best 67 games and were the clear favorites to win it all. In Jordan's only game against Boston in the regular season, the Bulls had lost by 21. Then, in the opening game, he scored 49 points. This was only a preview of what was to come. In Game Two, at Boston Garden, Jordan poured in 63 in an overtime contest. The Bulls went on to lose-and were swept in three games-but Larry Bird was suitably impressed, calling him "God disguised as Michael Jordan." Close enough.

Year: 1981
Sneaker: Nike Wimbledon GTS

The original Bad Boy of American tennis, John McEnroe reached the Wimbledon Final in '80, losing to Bjorn Borg, before reversing the result in 1981. He was better remembered for his petulance than his victory, dropping his first "YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!" in an opening round, then skipping the traditional victors party. His simple Wimbledon GTS was nothing crazy-certainly not as crazy as he was-but the name was earned right then.

Year: 1987
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan

When the first Air Jordan sold through almost immediately on its release in April of 1985, retailers and consumers alike clamored for more, more, more. Nike gleefully obliged, but the second run was too much of a good thing. Pairs languished on shelves literally for years, reduced to rock-bottom prices. And while basketball players had moved on to the next big thing, skateboarders did their best to take care of the Air Jordan overstock. Cheap and durable, Air Jordans were better than anything being produced by skate companies. The high-water mark was in 1987's Search For Animal Chin, when nearly the whole Bones Brigade was outfitted in Jordans of all colors. Watch it and cringe.

Year: 1989
Sneaker: Reebok The Pump

If the era of the "tech" basketball shoe began in the early '80s with the Air Force 1, it exploded in 1989 with the introduction of the Reebok Pump. The bloated hightop with the equally bloated pricetag intended to revolutionize fit, and if Reebok had to take the battle straight to Nike's doorstep, they certainly weren't going to shy away from it. Not everyone chose to "Pump Up And Air Out," but enough did that Nike introduced their own inflatable shoe not long after. And the fight was on.

Year: 1989
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan IV

It's been nearly 25 years, and it's a testimony to Spike Lee that no better tribute to the importance of sneakers to urban culture has ever been set to film. Nike products run all through 1989's Do The Right Thing, but Buggin' Out's anguish over the scuffing of his brand-new $100 Air Jordans ($108 with tax!) still resonates.

Year: 1985
Sneaker: Various

Tinker Hatfield was hired at Nike as a corporate architect in the early '80s. He came to Nike the way most did then, via the University of Oregon and Bill Bowerman's track team. In 1985, with Nike looking to revamp the sneaker design side and Hatfield looking for a new challenge, he put his all into an in-house design competition and easily won. His life-and the course of sneaker history-took a turn for the better.

Year: 1982
Sneaker: Nike Air Force 1

Nike introduced Air in the late '70s via the Tailwind, a running shoe, but one imagines the thought of putting it in a basketball shoe was there from the start. Vulcanized models like the Blazer and Bruin were veritable antiques, and it was up to designer Bruce Kilgore to work Frank Rudy's aerospace cushioning into a basketball silhouette. He did a bit more than that. Inspired by a lightweight hiking boot, Kilgore re-imagined the entire basketball hightop construct, and his Air Force 1 still stands as a pinnacle of functional design.

Year: 1988
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan III

Michael Jordan was a phenom before he even stepped on an NBA floor, but by 1988-playoff record aside-he was arguably the best player in the NBA. And with the All-Star game taking place in his adopted hometown of Chicago, everyone knew he'd put on a show. He certainly did. First he defended his Slam Dunk title, then scored 40 points en route to MVP honors in the game, all in his all-new, Tinker Hatfield designed Air Jordan III. Ten days later he'd turn 25.

Year: 1986
Sneaker: adidas Micropacer

adidas always seemed to save their biggest tech advances for Olympic years. In 1984, they introduced the Micropacer, a computer-equipped runner that is the common ancestor to all "smart" shoes. It seems charmingly simplistic now, but in 1984 this was as good as it got.

Year: 1989
Sneaker: Vans Caballero

Vans lost their way a little bit in the mid-'80s as skaters who grew up in Authentics and Eras and styles 36 and 38 moved on to inexpensive basketball hightops. They offered more protection, and best of all they were cheap-a must when a pair of sneakers lasted two weeks at best. In 1988, though, Vans was prepared to make a comeback. They signed pro skater Steve Caballero, and the following year gave him a signature hightop of his own, the Caballero.

Year: 1987
Sneaker: Nike Safari

Biz Markie was an unlikely style icon-a hefty rapper who made music with his mouth. But thanks to the back of his record Goin' Off, he will be forever linked with 1987's Nike Air Safari, a Tinker Hatfield creation that merged sports with luxury thanks to a deer leather upper and ostrich-inspired "Safari print" trim. Beats being remembered for pickin' boogers.

Year: 1986
Sneaker: Converse Weapon

Until the Air Jordan exploded onto the scene, Converse had sat atop the basketball sneaker mountain for nearly a century. It started with the All Star, and by the early '80s they had all the best NBA players-Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving, Isiah Thomas-wearing the Star Chevron. But for all their talent, they'd never really utilized it. After all, they were just sneakers. But with the advent of Air Jordan, Converse had to do something to show off their own roster (and their all-new Weapon). Get the best players in the NBA to rap? Well, they tried.

Year: 1982
Sneaker: Vans Slip-On

All Jeff Spicoli needed was some tasty waves, a cool buzz...and his checkered Vans Slip-Ons. He may not have done too well in the classroom, but Sean Penn's Cali stoner sure did a lot for laceless Vans. 1982's Fast Times At Ridgemont High still stands as a prime piece of '80s Americana, as do those checkered sneaks. Aloha, Mr. Hand.

Year: 1985
Sneaker: Nike Terminators

While Nike's other premier NCAA squads were content to wear school-specific colorways of the then-new Dunk, the Georgetown Hoyas wanted something different. What they got was the Terminator, a grey and blue hybrid of the Big Nike and the Legend.

Year: 1985
Sneaker: Air Jordan I

Back before the days of colorful PEs and special-makeup sneakers for every achievement and holiday under the sun, the NBA had rather strict uniform rules than ran all the way to players' feet. A team wearing white sneakers meant the WHOLE team wearing white sneakers - primarily white, anyway. So when Nike introduced the original Air Jordan-all red and black-and Michael Jordan wore them, he was in violation of the rules. The NBA responded with a $5,000 fine, and Nike in turn responded with a brilliant commercial. Marketing at its best.

Year: 1982
Sneaker: Converse Pro Leather

By 1982, the Converse Pro Leather, AKA Dr. J, was already firmly entrenched in basketball lore thanks to the good Doctor himself. But a little more legend doesn't hurt. In the 1982 NCAA Final, with the game on the line, a freshman from Brooklyn (by way of Wilmington NC) by the name of Mike Jordan buried a 17-foot baseline jumper that ended Georgetown's championship aspirations-or at least delayed them a few years. It was the biggest shot of his life. Up until then anyway.

Year: 1986
Sneaker: adidas Superstar

When Run-DMC recorded "My Adidas," their 1986 paean to their laceless sneakers, they weren't on adidas's payroll. Not yet, anyway. But when execs from the company saw thousands of fans holding up their own shoes at a show at NYC's Madison Square Garden, they didn't hesitate to sign the Queens trio to a deal. The intersection between hip-hop and sneakers-officially anyway-came here.

Year: 1989
Sneaker: Nike Air Jordan IV

It took Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls four seasons to win a playoff series, but when they finally did break through they did it in brilliantly dramatic fashion. With the best-of-five opening series against the Cleveland Cavaliers tied at two games apiece, they returned to Ohio for the deciding game. With the Bulls trailing late, Jordan-already with 42 points-received an inbounds pass, elevated over Cavs defensive specialist Craig Ehlo, and buried the game-winning jumper. It would be another two years before the Bulls won their first title, but The Shot even resonated after the rings started to stack up.

Year: 1989
Sneaker: Nike Air Mag

In 1989, the future meant 2015, and as that year rapidly approaches, it seems that Tinker Hatfield was a bit optimistic about the evolution of sneaker technology. Back To The Future II was mostly forgettable compared to its 1985 predecessor, but budding sneakerheads were immediately enamored with Marty McFly's Air Mag, a self-lacing hightop that lit up. It immediately became THE holy grail of sneakerdom, and by the time replicas were produced in 2012, the hype had yet to die down. Epic.