1.
by Brendan Dunne
Air Jordans being difficult to acquire is nothing new. In fact, when the sneakers debuted back in 1985, shipments were selling out on the regular.
This Newsweek article from June 17, 1985, 30 years ago today, captures some of the frenzy that accompanied the Air Jordan 1's debut. There's some interesting lost history in there, including the roll out plan where Nike first released the sneakers in six test cities on April 1, 1985 and the mention that, even back then, some retailers were marking the $64.95 sneakers up to $100.
While Air Jordans were in high demand at the start, Nike would eventually meet the demand and far exceed it, producing a surplus of pairs that had the sneakers going on sale fairly often during those first years. Read the clip from Newsweek above for some perspective on how the Air Jordan line was received when it first touched down three decades ago.
