words // Steve Jaconetta
images // Steve Jaconetta & Nike
One of the most popular Air Jordan’s of all time. Today we take a look at the lineage of the Air Jordan III.
The Air Jordan III was originally released in 1988. It was the first Air Jordan designed by the legend, Tinker Hatfield. They said goodbye to the ‘Wings’ logo and debuted the iconic ‘Jumpman’ logo we are all familiar with today. In addition, they were also the first Air Jordan to feature visible air and elephant print on the upper. Four colorways dropped, which are all classics today.
After Michael Jordan’s first retirement, Nike brought back the Air Jordan I, II and III for a short two colorway per model retro run in 1994. The Air Jordan III was the last in the line of the ’94 Retros due to MJ returning to the NBA. In 2001 the Air Jordan 3 Retro would get its first retro run, with three colorways dropping in the span of five months. Two original colorways returned which also led to the beginning of the end of some iconic elements featured on Air Jordan Retros. The OG black/cement colorway was the last to feature original ‘Nike Air’ branding while the ‘True Blue’ colorway was the first OG to feature ‘Jumpman’ branding in its place.
In 2003, the Air Jordan 3 Retro returned for a one-off release of the original white and cement grey colorway. We would then have to wait four years, until 2007 for them to return for their second retro run. Seven colorways were released during that time including the original ‘Fire Red’ edition for the first time and a new ‘Flip’ version which featuring a full elephant print upper for the first time on the AJ3. A women’s exclusive colorway as well as two limited ‘LS’ releases and two other GR’s rounded this set out.
The original black and cement grey colorway was re-released for the third time as a part of the Air Jordan 20/3 Collezione (Countdown) Pack in 2008. In 2009, Europe got a surprise when the ‘True Blues’ returned exclusively overseas and never made it stateside. One year later, the Air Jordan 3 Retro joined the Nike x Doernbecher Freestyle collection and featured a full translucent outsole for the first time. That paved the way for the 23rd Anniversary of the Air Jordan III in 2011 which saw Air Jordan 3 Retro releases throughout the entire year.
Favorites like the black and cement grey and ‘True Blue’ colorways were brought back as well as the second ‘Flip’ edition and a limited edition colorway, made to commemorate Black History Month. Since then, the Air Jordan 3 Retro has had a few small runs in 2013 and 2014. This included the Air Jordan 3 Retro ’88 in white and cement grey that featured original ‘Nike Air’ branding on them for the first time since 2001s black/cement grey release.
At this time, no other Air Jordan 3 Retros are officially set to release. However, with 2015 being the 30th Anniversary of the Air Jordan, we can definitely expect to see at least one colorway drop. But for now, let’s take a look at the history of the Air Jordan III from its first release up to the most recent retro below.
1.
Air Jordan III
4365 White/Cement Grey
1988
2.
Air Jordan III
4366 Black/Cement Grey
1988
3.
Air Jordan III ‘Fire Red’
4367 White/Fire Red
1988
4.
Air Jordan III ‘True Blue’
4368 White/Cement Grey-True Blue
1988
5.
Air Jordan 3
130203-001 Black/Cement Grey
1994
6.
Air Jordan 3
130203-101 White/Cement Grey
1994
7.
Air Jordan 3 Retro
136064-001 Black/Cement Grey
07/14/2001
8.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Mocha’
136064-121 White/Dark Mocha
09/15/2001
9.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘True Blue’
136064-141 White/True Blue
11/17/2001
10.
Air Jordan 3 Retro
136064-102 White/Cement Grey-Fire Red
04/19/2003
11.
Air Jordan 3 Retro LS
315297-062 Silver/Sport Red-Light Graphite-Orange Peel
02/24/2007
12.
Air Jordan 3 Retro Flip
315767-101 White/Metallic Silver-Black-Varsity Red
03/24/2007
13.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Fire Red’
136064-161 White/Fire Red-Cement Grey
03/24/2007
14.
Air Jordan 3 Retro Women’s
315296-142 White/Harbor Blue-Boarder Blue
03/24/2007
15.
Air Jordan 3 Retro LS ‘Do The Right Thing’
315297-471 Brisk Blue/Radiant Green-Pro Gold
04/14/2007
16.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Pure $’
136064-103 White/Metallic Silver
05/12/2007
17.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Black Cat’
136064-002 Black/Dark Charcoal
06/16/2007
18.
Air Jordan 3 Retro Collezione ‘CDP’
340254-061 Black/Cement Grey-Fire Red
10/18/2008
19.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘True Blue’
136064-141 White/True Blue
09/08/2009
20.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Silver Anniversary’
398613-102 White/Metallic Silver
03/27/2010
21.
Air Jordan 3 Retro DB ‘Doernbecher’
437536-600 Varsity Red/Metallic Silver-Black
12/04/2010
22.
Air Jordan 3 Retro
136064-105 White/Fire Red-Cement Grey-Black
01/22/2011
23.
Air Jordan 3 Retro BHM ‘Black History Month’
455657-001 Black/Metallic Gold
02/26/2011
24.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘True Blue’
136064-104 White/True Blue
06/04/2011
25.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Stealth’
136064-003 Stealth/Varsity Red-Light Graphite
09/03/2011
26.
Air Jordan 3 Retro
136064-010 Black/Varsity Red-Cement Grey
11/25/2011
27.
Air Jordan 3 Retro Flip
315767-001 Black/Metallic Silver
12/03/2011
28.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ’88 ‘Nike Air’
580775-160 White/Fire Red-Cement Grey-Black
02/06/2013
29.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Joker’
136064-018 Black/Electric Green-Canyon Purple-White
02/16/2013
30.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Crimson’
136064-005 Black/Bright Crimson-Canyon Purple-Prism Violet
02/23/2013
31.
Air Jordan 3 Retro DB ‘Doernbecher’
437536-600 Varsity Red/Metallic Silver-Black
07/20/2013
32.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Fire Red’
136064-120 White/Fire Red-Silver-Black
08/03/2013
33.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Fear’
626967-040 Night Stadium/Total Orange-Black-Neutral Grey
08/24/2013
34.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Powder Blue’
136064-401 Dark Powder Blue/Black-White-Wolf Grey
01/18/2014
35.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Infrared 23’
136064-123 White/Black-Cement Grey-Infrared 23
03/08/2014
36.
Air Jordan 5LAB3 ‘Element’
631603-003 Reflect Silver/Reflect Silver-Black-White
03/29/2014
37.
Air Jordan 5LAB3 ‘Element’
631603-010 Black/Black-Clear
05/17/2014
38.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Wolf Grey’
136064-004 Wolf Grey/Metallic Silver-Black-White
07/19/2014
39.
Air Jordan 3 Retro ‘Sport Blue’
136064-007 Black/Sport Blue-Wolf Grey
08/16/2014
Steve Jaconetta is the Release Dates & Archive Editor of Sole Collector and you can follow him on Twitter here.
