This weekend Jordan brand will be releasing the Air Jordan black infrared 6’s in its original silhouette for the first time in 19 years. The Air Jordan 6 is Jordan’s 6th signature shoe and was first released to the public in 1991 with only 5 original colorways.
Of those 5 original colorways, the black infrared’s were one of them and was worn by Jordan in the 1991 playoffs in which he played in his first ever NBA finals against Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jordan not only wore the black infrareds for his first finals appearance but he defeated the Lakers in the finals that season and also won his first finals MVP, as well as winning his 2nd regular season MVP and another regular season scoring title.
To say the least, the Air Jordan 6 was Jordan’s good luck charm for the 1990-1991 season. The sneaker did not just get its popularity by seeing Jordan wear them in the finals but because of the unique design, it had.
The concept of the sneaker and the key details added to it made it an automatic classic shoe to this day. According to Sneakerfiles the Black infrared’s feature an all-black suede upper with tiny holes throughout the upper half of the shoe with a Jumpman lace pouch and a Nike lace lock placed in the center of the shoe. As for the midsole, they’re mostly black with hints of infrared on the front and back of the inner and outer midsole.
These hints on the shoe midsole are where the shoe gets it’s signature name ‘Black infrared’. The sole of the shoe featured a white translucent sole with an infrared Jumpman placed across the center.
Key details that Jordan handpicked to be apart of the shoe are the tongue and the heel tab which features an infrared strip across it. Jordan got the idea for his heel tab from his sports car a Porsche 911 which had a spoiler on the back says Complex magazine.
According to sole collector Jordan told his sneaker designer Tinker Hatfield he wanted a shoe that was easier to put on so Hatfield made the tongue stretchable with two finger holes to help pull up the shoe in the front and a heel tab to pull the shoe up in the back as well as to protect his achilles heel. To finish it off, placed directly below the heel tab is the iconic ‘Nike air’ that all OG Jordan fans love. Since the debut of the black infrared in 1991, we have seen 4 retro versions of the shoe over the course of several years.
Fast forward 10 years later (2010) Jordan brand released an Infrared pack which retailed for $310 USD and it featured 2 Air Jordan 6’s one black and one white. This black infrared had the biggest changes made to the silhouette which left sneakerheads very displeased. The most noticeable change for this shoe was the midsole it no longer was infrared but varsity red which is more like a dark red instead of a blend between red and pink.
This retro also no longer featured the ‘Nike air’ but the Jumpman symbol with and air underneath it but it kept the white translucent sole like the OG’s.
Fast forward 5 years (2019) we have another black infrared retro and this time they brought back the Nike air and made sure to make it a clean blend between red and pink to ensure it was the true infrared color that released originally in 1991.
2019 black infrared will be featured with an all black suede upper with an underlying 3M panel to make the air holes pop and a translucent icy blue sole and an infrared lace lock with Nike on one side and the Jumpman symbol on the other side.
The OG black infrared 6s will release Saturday, February 16th, 2019 at 10:00 AM according to Sneaker News. The shoes will retail for $200 USD at several shoe retailers such as Footlocker, Jimmy Jazz, Finish line, and DTLR.
