The sneaker culture remembers most Jordan’s, especially 1-14, as instant classics. While that is true now, it wasn’t always that way. The Jordan 1 twenty years ago did not move the needle at all, viewed in the early 2000s as the forgotten model. The Jordan 2 was almost an afterthought until relatively recently.
Believe it or not, the Jordan 3 wasn’t the big deal it is now. For most that remember these releases as they happened in real time, Jordan’s started to become the iconic footwear we think of today after the Jordan 4. By the time Nike released the Jordan 5, it was a cultural movement. Michael Jordan made them popular, while Will Smith’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air character catapulted it to a new pop culture level.
“The AJ5 launched in 1990, and the “Grape” colorway broke the mold on more conventional Jordan colors—white, red, and black, according to Nike. "The “Grape” combines smooth white leather with Grape Ice and New Emerald accents—originally giving a nod to the nascent NBA team from MJ’s home state of North Carolina. Earning instant acclaim in ‘90s pop culture, the timeless icon quickly cemented its status as a cultural phenomenon.”
At the time, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was a significant force in the pre-internet, pre-streaming world of sitcom television. Nike and the show runners of that show saw a marketing opportunity that would help launch the Jordan line as well as others in time into a new level of awareness. Noticing the sneakers Will would wear became a game within the game.
Beginning with the show’s pilot episode, Will Smith entered the now famous Bel-Air house wearing the Black/Silver Jordan 5. While Will Smith’s character would don a number of Jordan’s, Barkley’s, or even other non-signature performance sneakers of that day, none shook the foundations like the appearance of the “Grape” Jordan 5s.
After 1990, the Grape 5s would be seen four more times. 16 years after the original release in 2006, then again in 2013. The fourth time will be on June 21st 2025. During the 2010s, Jordan attempted to popularize the Jumpman over the “Nike Air” that so many fans were accustomed to. The Nike Air on the heel counter was as staple of design that sneakerheads looked for.
The Jordan 10 was the first model to use the Jumpman as a Nike Air replacement. However, in the 2010s, when Nike continued to ‘retro’ older models, they replaced the accurate “Nike Air” on the heel counter with the Jumpman logo. At no point has the sneaker culture overall wanted the Jumpman logo over the Nike Air heel counter. Not in 1995, 2005, or 2025.
While the Jumpman logo on the back of the Jordan 5 did little to sway consumers from buying it, the return to the Nike Air heel counter should ensure immediate liquidation on the Jordan 5 “Grape”.
The Jordan 5 “Grape” will be released on Saturday, June 21st, at most Nike authorized retailers. For Nike, this will not be a SNKRS exclusive.
The White, New Emerald, Grape Ice, and Black colorway with the “Nike Air” heel counter provides sneakerheads the opportunity in 2025 to add yet another OG colorway/style once thought lost to the Nike vault.