Sneaker culture is gaining rapid mainstream popularity these days, with new sneakers as well as retroed shoes launching and often selling out in minutes. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that sneaker culture owes quite a bit to the OG Jordans, especially with the notoriety surrounding the banned colorway. We all know the story; the NBA commission ‘banned’ the red and black Air Jordan 1s in 1985 for breaking the ‘uniformity of uniform rule’ which required all sneakers to match the team colors as well as members of each team to wear matching sneakers. Michael Jordan took the court wearing these sneakers with Nike supposedly picking up the tab for the $5,000 per game fine. Some say that it was a different shoe that was actually banned, but the story was used by Nike as part of a savvy marketing campaign to push the Jordans. Whether the stories are true or not, we can’t deny the impact it had on the NBA and sneaker culture in general as we know it today.

One of the most anticipated Air Jordan 1 launches of the year, Nike is be re-releasing the iconic Air Jordan 1 High ‘Banned’ that they released back in 2011. This year’s re-release gets subtle updates in materials, but stays true to the red and black scheme. You can head to SNKRS to cop a pair, starting at 10 am today.