In almost any field, the one 'drawback' of having a highly successful debut is the pressure not to fall short the second time around. For Nike, after turning the sneaker industry on its head with the Air Jordan 1, designers were left with the monumental task of creating an even more captivating shoe in the Air Jordan 2. Peter Moore and Bruce Kilgore led the project, looking to craft a shoe that matched Michael Jordan's elegance on and off the court. This led the duo to Italy, where they took inspiration from the country's luxury footwear and premium construction.
What you see here is not the Air Jordan 2 we're all familiar with, but rather a prototype of the model that never made it to retail. Aside from a few details, such as the toe perforation style, middle eyelets, and first-ever appearance of the Wings logo, it's a completely different shoe from the retail version. The iguana-textured faux reptile skin leather, rounder toe, molded heel counter, and thicker tooling are absent. In addition to this black and white colorway, the Air Jordan 2 Prototype previously surfaced in white and red, in both high and low-top form.
Bidding for the rare prototype is currently at $525 on Heritage Auctions with an end date of June 21.
