Air Jordan XVIII
(18)
Head Designer: Tate Kuerbis
Michael played on for the Wizards, but his knee
didn't quite hold up for all the games. He returned
by the end of the season though and ended his
career on April 16th 2003 against the 76ers. This
time I think we can say with certainty that he's
not coming back again...
New head designer
Creator of the design of the XVIII was Tate Kuerbis
(Jordan Senior Footwear Designer). A person that
had been part of the Jordan footwear design team
since 1999 and with Nike since 1995. The inspiration
of the design is a combination fo a number of
things; Sleek racing lines of the auto world,
Carbon fiber-based monocoque of F1 race cars,
Race car driving shoes (rubber heel wrap) and
Fine Italian dress shoes (bold stitching on the
soles).
What's next?
With the XVII's having had a briefcase and a CD-rom
the big question was how the XVIII's could possibly
match this. "What is next?" was the
big question for all the sneakerfreaks out there.
The XVIII's was no disappointment. With a new
Jordan box with a nice cut out 18 with foil behind
it and a new pull-out opening the box itself was
just SUPER! Ok, it wasn't a briefcase, but c'mon
I'd rather pay $175 than $200 for AJ's.
Brush and towel
In the package there was also a brush (black suede
hi-tops) and a towel included. A great set of
tools that simplifies the cleaning of the shoes.
.5
Both the XVI's and the XVII's had a modified model
called "+". With the XVIII's this was
taken a little bit further and a 18.5 was released.
The design was pretty similar but the lace cover
was lifted off and the Jumpman was brought forward
on the side of the shoe. The 18.5 also featured
a plastic pants leg-stopper with the years 1985-2003
written on them. |
