The first Air Jordan shoe was released to the public on April 1, 1985. The shoe was designed by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore for Nike and was produced for basketball player Michael Jordan. The shoe's design was based on the Chicago Bulls' red and black team colors, with only 23% white.

The Jordan I is hard to top, yes, but the Air Jordan III certainly comes close. It was the first design of Tinker Hatfield, who took the reins from Peter Moore. And boy did he start out with a bang. Not only did Hatfield continue with the Swoosh-free design introduced with the AJII, promoting Air Jordans as a category unto themselves, he also added eye-catching elephant print panels to the black or white uppers. It was architectural. It enlarged the scope of sneaker design. But what really puts the shoe in the pantheon of greats is the introduction of Jordan’s gravity-defying silhouette as the logo, now known as the Jumpman.