The Air Jordan 1 ‘Bred,’ the Most Important Sneaker of All Time, Is Returning This Week

We live in an era of hyperbole. Everything is the best ever, everything is the worst ever. Half a dozen times a day something inconsequential is goated, once a week something is top two and it ain’t two. If I am sitting in front of this keyboard a few times a week spilling ink over sneakers and sports and menswear it’s because I believe that words carry weight, that we use them to ascribe import to what we hold dear. To put something into words is to give it meaning. Hyperbole is the enemy of this sentiment, a habit that strips weight from what should feel heavy on our tongues. I am prone to it as any of you, though these days when I catch myself describing a baguette as “the best thing I’ve eaten in a year” I want to stop myself mid-sentence—but in the era of hyperbole, “It was a pretty good baguette, maybe even really good” hardly feels like a sentiment worth expressing.

This is to say that you are catching me in a moment in which I’m reassessing my relationship with praise, with using my words to imbue something, anything, with greatness. And even in this moment there is nothing to say about the Air Jordan 1 ‘Bred’ other than that it is the greatest and single most important sneaker of all time. That’s why it’s so hard to get a pair. And why, when it returns this week, it’s going to be harder than ever.

The story has been repeated so many times over the decades as to become legend (and it should be said that, like all legends, it comes with a dollop or more of fiction). But on the off chance you’re hearing it for the first time: When Michael Jordan first laced up the now-iconic black and red colorway of his first signature sneaker, it violated the NBA’s dress code. Rather than back down, Nike agreed to pay the $5,000 fine Jordan would owe every time he hit the court in the shoes. They leaned into the gimmick, marketing the shoes as a controlled substance the NBA didn’t want fans to have. It worked, with the Air Jordan 1 becoming an instant hit the likes of which we’d never seen.

The Air Jordan 1 ’85 ‘Bred’ Nike

It’s a good story, even If it’s a slightly fabricated one (the actual restricted shoe was a black and red Nike Air Ship, but that’s not quite as easy a tale to sell). What happened in actuality is perhaps a better one, which is that the shoe completely upended sneakers, sports, and the culture existing at the bridge between the two. In a way we hadn’t seen before, people needed this shoe. They needed this shoe because they needed to be like Mike, but more importantly they needed this shoe because it’s a perfect shoe, I mean, come on. Look at it. Look at that. We like to get cute when ranking sneakers, even Jordans, and try to make a case for why the Air Jordan 2 is Good Actually or how the Air Jordan 3 is actually the best sneaker of all time. And it’s not that there’s not a case to be made for the 3 or the 11 or any other number of Jordan classics, it’s just look at that shoe. Look at perfection of design, of color, of story. Look at this shoe and tell yourself—not me, yourself, you can lie to me but you can’t lie to yourself—that this isn’t the GOAT.

Jordan Brand, for their part, knows what they have with the Bred and they always have. The shoe only comes back around every seven or eight years or so. We last saw it back in 2016, an instant sell-out affair that still fetches some pretty ridiculous prices on resale platforms.

Over the years as the shoe has been retro’d there are tiny changes made, to the ankle or the toe box or the leather or the specific shade of red used across the colorway. This 2025 release—here to commemorate 40 years of the Air Jordan 1—is an exception. It’s the crowning achievement of the ’85 line, an annual Jordan 1 drop that began in 2020 around the time of Chicago hosting the All-Star game. The ’85 collection reproduces the Air Jordan 1 to its original specs, using high-quality leather and the original design schematics. It’s a premium product and its availability has always reflected that, with prior colorways having been limited to 23,000 pairs.

This time around numbers like those would be a blessing. The (rumored) reality is that while this year’s incarnation of the Bred 1 is better than ever, it’s also going to be as hard to get as ever. It’s not because of sneaker app bots or resellers, but rather because the shoe is limited to 10,000 pairs. There’s not going to be a SNKRS draw or any sort of general release. The shoes are being allotted to a limited selection of sneaker retailers. The limited nature of the drop and the good faith gesture towards longtime business partners of Jordan Brand has some stores getting creative with the release. One isn’t even opening the sale to the public, only selectively inviting longtime customers who have a preexisting relationship with the shop to buy a pair in their size. Overall, it’s a controversial method of getting the most coveted shoes in the world out to the public. Needless to say, everyone who cares about sneakers wants a pair, and not everyone is going to get one. The $250 price tag has also garnered controversy, with criticism being lobbied at Jordan Brand for a pretty flagrant upcharge.

There are legitimate arguments in both directions here. On one hand, shoes like these—the truly iconic Air Jordan colorways—should feel accessible to anyone who wants a fair shot at a pair on release day. On the other, this is maybe the only shoe Jordan Brand could get away with this release method for. It’s a testament to the colorway’s enduring legend and legacy, a reminder that some things just aren’t as special when everyone you know has a pair. Me? I’m of the opinion that the Bred 1 would still be as special if half the folks in your office came to work on Monday with them laced up. But it sure doesn’t hurt the shoe’s legacy to know that for the next seven or eight years, 10,000 pairs is all we get.

Select retailers begin selling the Air Jordan 1 ’85 ‘Bred’ on February 14.