The First-Ever Air Jordan 11 Collaboration Is an Absolute Doozy

Anyone who knows Air Jordans knows that the Air Jordan 11 is protected. It’s sacred, it’s special, it’s not like the others. It’s why for years the brand has largely limited releases of the 1995 classic to a single buzzy holiday drop, along with the occasional women’s exclusive a month or two prior. It’s also why it felt like such a gargantuan shift when, last fall, Jordan Brand suddenly dropped a wide array of new colorways for the first time since the shoe’s debut. This year brings another historic first for what’s arguably the best Air Jordan of all time: a collaboration. Until this past winter’s Paris Fashion Week, the AJ11 had never been offered to a partner to put their fingerprints on. This weekend, that all changes with the official launch of the Comme des Garçons Homme Plus x Air Jordan 11.It makes all the sense in the world for Jordan to tap CDG as their first AJ11 collaborator. Rei Kawakubo’s legendary label has been working with Nike for ages, adding its avant-garde signature to everything from Foamposites to Air Force 1s. There’s an established trust between the brands, and they work seamlessly together at this point. That’s what Jordan Brand needs for a moment like this—you don’t hand such a historic first to a partner if you aren’t certain they’ll stick the landing.That’s precisely what CDG did here. The label chose to keep the Air Jordan 11 as pure and simple as possible, releasing two monochromatic colorways in black and white. The one major change was subbing out the shoe’s signature performance innovation—its ballistic mesh upper—for a luxe full-grain leather, which offsets the shoe’s iconic patent leather mudguard perfectly. CDG also applied a gloss finish to the midsole, which creates a further uniformity in the design by extending the patent leather’s shine further down the silhouette. Finally, rather than the familiar “23” or “45” on the shoe’s heel tab, the Homme Plus logo is featured in the same typeface as the numbers.CDG didn’t set out to reinvent the wheel with this Air Jordan 11. The silhouette speaks for itself, as does the magnitude of the moment. The first AJ11 collaboration is exactly what it needed to be: a simple, timeless interpretation with a luxury touch. The Comme des Garçons Homme Plus x Air Jordan 11 releases on September 5 for $358 at Dover Street Market locations in London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, and Paris, as well as select CDG stores and Dover Street’s global web store.