Air Jordan XII
(12)
Head Designer: Tinker Hatfield
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 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 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. |
