Anna Wintour x Air Jordan 1 cremallera retro rojo universidad con

Anna Wintour Jordan 1 High Zip University Red Impressive's Look

The Air Jordan 1 is the sneaker that started it all, marking the beginning of the most iconic lineage of sneakers in history. In many ways, it's responsible for launching modern-day sneaker culture as a whole—and it almost didn't happen.

History of Air Jordan 1

As the story goes, the year was 1984, and Chicago Bulls' rookie Michael Jordan was a hot commodity for endorsement deals, with sneakers naturally being paramount.

Jordan had just come off a stellar college basketball season at the University of North Carolina. He wore Converse and was a personal fan of Adidas, so he took meetings with both companies, but they never reached a deal. It seems strange today, but at the time, Michael Jordan hated Nike—so much so that he refused to take a meeting with them.

He was persuaded by his mother, Deloris Jordan, to visit the Nike campus in Oregon and listen to their pitch. His plan was to go through the motions to appease his parents and agent but he ultimately left with a contract unlike any other.

Rather than walking in the shadows of established athletes like Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (which may have been the case had he signed elsewhere), Michael Jordan shone in the Nike limelight. He was paid more than any other athlete with a sneaker endorsement at the time. Nike made him the face of its growing presence in basketball, and gave him his own sneaker line—called Air Jordan.

Jordan 1 Retro High Zip x Anna Wintour University Red 2018

The Women’s Air Jordan 1 Retro High Zip, a Vogue collaboration, sealed by chief editor Anna Wintour, features one of its bold colorways: University Red. This silhouette features a tonal Sail and a red leather upper. The shoe comes with a stylish branding of a red "Edited by Vogue" key chain that falls from a Metallic Silver zipper, replacing the traditional lacing system. The pair’s lateral side panels also have Jordan tonal branding that gives it a unique Jordan flair. Anna’s AWOK signature displays on a leather panel on the outsole and when the shoe is unzipped. This high-top completes its look with a translucent rubber outsole with tread patterns for increased traction.