Michael Jordan had a unique problem with all the Jordans so far – putting his shoes on! In order to slip into the shoe without wrestling it, Tinker Hatfield once again used his design ingenuity. Apart from creating a reinforced toe on MJ’s new shoe, Tinker created a tongue made out of rubber with two holes on the top most part which could be pulled to slip the shoe on.
The Air Jordan 6 was the second model to have the clear rubber sole. No wonder even today you see collectors and enthusiasts talk about their “icy soles” on this iconic silhouette. However, Tinker had learned from Jordan V’s mistakes which had to do with a lot of dust getting collected on the sole making some amateur ball players slip more often on court. He added a bit more solid rubber for superior grip on the Jordan 6.
Michael Jordan also wanted to protect his Achilles tendon from injury and requested that the heel be positioned accordingly. Once again, Tinker came to the rescue and introduced the first ever molded structure at the back of a Jordan shoe. In 2005 Jordan Brand released a DMP (Defining Moments Package) which consisted of the Air Jordan VI and XI for $295.00.