A new year means a new shoe design from Nike and Air
Jordan. Nike Basketball was heading into a different direction with foamposite, shox, and big air bubbles in shoes. What can the
Air Jordan 12 do to compete? Believe it or not the AJ XII got started with a woman’s fashion shoe from the 19th century called “Nisshoki”. Michael is big on fashion, and he knows women have a lot of it. He did not care if you made fun of him for wearing a women’s wrist band or something else feminine.
On the Jordan 12 there was more than just the women’s high heel for inspiration, but also the Japanese Rising Sun flag played a big role in the making. The stitching down the sides resemble sun rays. If you look at past
Air Jordan sneakers, you will notice the famous “23″ located somewhere on the model. On the Air Jordan 12 Michael wanted a different look with his number 23. So an idea came to Michael Jordan to have 23 written down the tongue, written like this: Two 3.
A lot of good qualities were on the Air Jordan XII, for example they had the Zoom Air unit (also the first
Air Jordan to have a Zoom air unit), modified herringbone pattern for improved traction and a more improved carbon fiber shank plate.
When the Jordan 12 first released in 1996 they sold for $135.00, and five different color ways were released. In 2003 two color ways released selling for $135.00, and a pair of Air Jordan XII cleats released. A couple months later an Air Jordan XII package was sold which came with the Air Jordan XII, hoody and hat which sold for $200 (online only). 2004 was now here and four color ways came out of the Air Jordan XII, which went for $135.00, and three AJ XII lows dropped selling for $115.00.
The Air Jordan XII (12) was released in 1996/1997. In the 96/97 season Jordan saw himself being bounced off the MVP throne by Karl Malone, who won the honor with the slimmest margin one can think off. Jordan got his revenge in the finals though, and led the Bulls past Malone’s Utah Jazz and also picked up the Finals MVP honors for the fifth time (out of five tries!).
Sun sets in Japan
This shoe was again something totally new when it came to design. The way the ribbed leather seemed to go all the way to down to the ground due to the match in color with the midsoles, really made people turn their heads. This unique design was partly inspired by the flag of the Japanese Army & Navy in which the red circle is surrounded by a “sunset”.
The Air Jordan 12 (XII)’s were also one of the most durable AJ’s to date. It seemed almost nothing could break these shoes down. One major disadvantage was that they pretty easily got dirty and was hard to clean. Especially the ones with white midsoles/soles.
Jordan Brand
In September 1997 Nike decided to launch a new sub-brand of Nike called Jordan Brand. This made the Air Jordan XII one of the first products that were a part of the Jordan Brand collection.
Probably due to this fact, the Air Jordan 12 XII was the first Air Jordan that did not have a Swoosh or a Nike logo anywhere on the shoe. Not even on the insole.
