Air Jordan 36 Officially Unveiled By Jordan Brand

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Source: Jordan Brand / Jordan Brand

Today (August 16), Jordan Brand has officially unveiled Michael Jordan’s latest signature shoe, the Air Jordan 36. While retros may reign supreme, the current offering from Air Jordan is all about performance.

Source: Jordan Brand / Jordan Brand

The Air Jordan 36 admittedly takes cues from the two previous models, the Air Jordan 35 and Air Jordan 34, with the goalpost of making things even lighter. The result of this “light” muse, as JB calls it, is designers implementing latest tech—a jacquard leno-weave upper, a full-length Zoom Air Strobel unit that is also double-stacked with a forefoot unit and a refined plate system—to create the ultimate basketball shoe.

“We want those who love the brand to see something that’s always been a part of our design legacy: the power of teamwork that goes on between a core group of folks to create product excellence,” said Martin Lotti, Jordan Brand’s Design VP, via a statement. “Jordan Brand is inspired by one man, but it’s carried into the future by many, many people who are experts in their field.”

The new model’s upper consists of the aforementioned jacquard leno-weave material, which lightweight, breathable and strong. If you want to get technical, per JB, “Leno-weave is a pattern of weaving that twists two warp yarns (‘warp’ is the lengthwise yarn) around the weft yarn (‘weft’ is the perpendicular yarn that move under-and-over the pattern).” It also makes the material partially see-through, too. Underfoot, the full-length Zoom Air Strobel unit is stitched directly to the upper, and it atop another forefoot Zoom Air unit for extra responsiveness. A multidirectional herringbone pattern on the outsole provides plenty of traction.

The Flight Plate and Eclipse Plate the two direct prior models were essentially hollowed out between the outsole and midsole which reduces further weight and reveals the model’s stabilizing shank. The change also meant implementing nods to its Air Jordan 6 inspiration.

“We weren’t focused on exposing the bags anymore. We wanted to connect the ribbon and cover up the plate system,” explained Tate Keurbis, Jordan Brand Footwear Designer, in a statement. “In doing so, we brought in subtle details from the Air Jordan VI and created a tooling that conveys Michael’s lasting influence in worldwide culture.”

Check out detailed photos of the Air Jordan XXXVI in a gang of colorways that start dropping in August through September in the gallery.