John Kim 
Nikestore cleared out of its Adult and Kids stock in an hour. Thousands upon thousands of eager sneakerheads camped out all across the nation. Ordering from other online retailers may have resulted in the dreadful realization that “your session has timed out”, which was immediately followed by the worry of whether your order went through or not. Perhaps this was all expected for the release of the Air Jordan XI ‘Concord’, which was easily the grandest, most anticipated, and most talked-about mass sneaker release of 2011 or perhaps the entire decade. It’s all fun and games – camping out with your fellow sneaker pals for hours, chatting about kicks and making new friends. Then, the unfortunate news of a rumored death (now proven false) in the Washington D.C. area related to the Concords forced us to revisit a time when footwear-related crimes were a serious issue in certain areas – even Sports Illustrated explored one of the most heinous acts of sneaker-robbery when in 1989, a 15-year-old was murdered, found in the woods, all for his Air Jordans. Riots, fights, and attempts to tear store-fronts down were reported in other cities, and nationwide news outlets made the Concord a story worth covering.
Sneaker releases like the Concord 11 isn’t the fuel, it’s the engine. Over the last four Decembers, the Air Jordan XI has been the marquee sneaker of the year, preceded by numerous other footwear releases during the 11 months and three weeks prior, and as the year slowly progresses, the typical sneakerhead’s focus reconfigures and thought processes evolve from “I’ll cop these now, but gotta have the Concords at the end of the year!” to “I need to save, need my Concords!”. The actual release may last under an hour, but the process actually spans an entire year and by January 1st, the Concord XI will have been ‘old news’ and the next December release will be the biggest discussion of the year – again. For now, check out a recap of the Spike Lee Air Jordan 6 Oscars x Drake Air Jordan 8 OVO Kentucky Black Concord releases from some notable spots, and let us know how you copped your Concords. If you missed out, go the safer route and hit up eBay. Add’l images via Deftronic.
