Better known as the shoe Michael Jordan had on his feet when the Bulls completed their Three-Peat world championship run in 1993, the Air Jordan 8 was yet another shoe for the history books. The shoe featured a strapped design with unique graphic detailing along with a carpet-like tongue. It’s freakish to know however that if MJ hadn’t returned to Basketball after his brief stint in baseball and had Nike decided not to continue the Jordan lineage, the 8’s would’ve been the last model in the Air Jordan series.
The shoe looked gaudier than other Jordan shoes albeit with a heavier/clunkier design and was overall a less breathable shoe. The shoe featured an Air sole, polycarbonate torsion plate which was a first, durabuck uppers, bunny ears i.e. anti-inversion cross-straps and the inner sleeve of a Huarache. The clickety-clack sound of the straps gave it a unique character once metal started to replace the plastic on the straps and the shoe got rocked hard on and off the court. Tinker Hatfield was against the idea of putting a Nike logo on the shoe as he thought that Jordan brand did not need a Nike stamp, having come out with 7 models already (Air Jordan 1 through 7). Nike of course dismissed the idea at the onset, but with time and persistence, the Nike logo was removed from the shoe for good.
The shoe retailed for $125.00. Later on, the two low cut versions of the AJ VIII were released which sold for $110.00.
In 1993 the Original Air Jordan VIII was released in three colorways:
- White/Black-True Red aka Bugs Bunny
- Black/Bright Concord
- Aqua Tone and Black-Black-True Red (MJ rocked this one only once during the All Star game)