AIR JORDAN 1 RETRO 1984, winter. Lack of money forced NIKE to look for ways to develop the company. Running shoes were not enough, so they had to try something new. The philosophy was as follows: "Since we can't afford to advertise our products on the back page, let's get an athlete who will advertise us on the cover." This new someone was to be Michael Jordan - a promising third draft pick, selected by the Chicago Bulls. Unfortunately, MJ was not convinced about the NIKE company from the very beginning. During his time at the University, Jordan ran in CONVERSE shoes. At that time, the biggest stars of the NBA had sponsorship agreements with CONVERSE, including Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Wouldn't you be tempted by such company :) ? However, things turned out a bit differently. CONVERSE did not make Jordan an appropriate offer. Adidas, Jordan's favorite, didn't do it either. NIKE immediately lined up. Jordan's private agent, David Falk, really wanted Michael to sign a contract with NIKE, because they were the only ones who provided him with his own line of shoes called 'AIR JORDAN'. No company had previously been willing to sponsor and promote shoes for one player, but they were willing to do everything to convince Jordan. After some time, a meeting was held, at which an agreement was reached. "Jordan will promote NIKE ". The support of the family and the private agent resulted in a contract, and so a new line of shoes was created - AIR JORDAN. A logo was created, which featured a ball with wings. Jordan, by signing the contract, agreed to a 5-year contract for 2.5 million dollars. The designer of the "Ones" was Peter Moore, and the shoes themselves were a bull's eye, because people all over the world spent a lot of money to have this model in their collection. Not only was it a great promotion for Jordan, but also for Nike. This is the first model from the AIR JORDAN collection. Specifications Exact release date: March 1985. Price: (March 1985) - $75 Fun fact: The black and red Nike Air Jordan I were banned by the NBA because they did not meet the criteria for being allowed to run in them on NBA courts (it was about the color of the shoes - it should be white). The name "banned" for this model was then adopted.