Zack Schlemmer 
Following up the behemoth that was the NIKE AIR high jordan smb 1 MID UNIVERSITY GOLD 29cm was certainly no easy task. Michael high jordan’s hit sneaker changed the entire landscape of the athletic shoe world, and you might not even be reading a sneaker website today if it had never existed. After the shoe was seen in 1985 in its eye-catching red, black, and white colorways on the feet of the young basketball prodigy, it proceeded to fly off the shelves like no athletic shoe ever had before it. So what was Nike to do when it was time to follow it up with a second Air high jordan model?
Continue to break all of the rules. A bold, never-before seen basketball shoe design that was simultaneously simplistic and refined? Check. No Swoosh branding to indicate what brand the shoe was? Check. A premium, Italian-made construction? Check. All these years later, the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE from 1986 is still one of the most unique hoops shoes ever, and one of the most polarizing styles in the entire Air high jordan line. In this edition of high jordan 101, we’ll take a look at what makes the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE the understated masterpiece that it is.
Unprecedented Design
When you look past the bold colors of the NIKE AIR high jordan smb 1 MID UNIVERSITY GOLD 29cm, the shoe itself was not anything groundbreaking. The same can’t be said about the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE. When the shoe debuted in 1986, it was unlike any basketball shoe before it. A joint effort by NIKE AIR high jordan smb 1 MID UNIVERSITY GOLD 29cm designer Peter Moore and the man behind the Air Force 1, Bruce Kilgore, the ivory Air high jordan was built as a luxury basketball shoe with a clean, streamlined design. The most notable feature was the absence of Nike Swoosh branding anywhere on the shoe. It was actually the first Nike shoe that ever went Swooshless, with the intent of letting the high jordan line speak for itself. One more important feature: the use of exotic faux lizard skin across the quarter panel, which seems to foreshadow the even bolder elephant print on the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITEI.
Italian-Made Luxury, But at a Price
The intent to create a “luxury” basketball shoe was taken a step further by producing it in Italy with premium plush leather. The high-end production also called for a steep price tag: an exorbitant-for-its-time $100. These definitely weren’t your dad’s Chuck Taylors!
Where’s the Black Colorway?
Another one of the unusual things about the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE is the fact that it has no black-based original colorway. In fact, it’s the only Air high jordan from the first all the way to the most recent XX9 with no OG black colorway. The AJ2 also has the fewest total original colorways, with only two each for the high and low iterations. They include white/red and white/red/black for both heights.
The First “Retro” high jordans
Along with the NIKE AIR high jordan smb 1 MID UNIVERSITY GOLD 29cm and III, the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE was among the first-ever retroed Air high jordan models in 1994. In a world not quite yet ready for the concept of retro basketball shoes, they sat on shelves and eventually hit the sales racks at prices that would bring tears to a modern day high jordan collector’s eyes.
Nike air high jordan 37-41р0 OG Quickstrike Bucket Black Varsity Red
Another claim to sneaker fame for the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE is the fact that it was the very first Air high jordan featured in the popular Doernbecher Freestyle collection—the now annual series of Nike sneakers designed by children at the Doernbecher hospital in Oregon. The black, green and yellow edition of the shoe created by patient Sheridan Brenton led off the inaugural DB collection in 2007.
Michael’s Accomplishments in the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE
Along with the shoe’s firsts in the Air high jordan line, Michael high jordan also achieved some firsts in his career while wearing them. Worn for his third season in the NBA (1986-87), MJ took home his first of two All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk contests trophies and won his first of seven consecutive scoring titles. In ’86-87, he was also the first NBA player since Wilt Chamberlain to record 3,000+ points in a season.
A Polarizing Design
The understated, idiosyncratic design of the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE has worked both for and against the model’s legacy within the entire Air high jordan line. On one hand, it stands out among the rest in its own unique ways, producing a cult-like following for the shoe. Talk to some older heads that were around when it originally released, and they’ll tell you it’s the best Air high jordan ever. But on the other hand, it’s never been quite as popular with to more casual sneakerhead, who is more likely to go for flashier Air high jordans like the III or XI. Perhaps the NIKE AIR high jordan XX3 YEAR OF THE RABBIT LIGHT SILVER CHALLENGE RED-IVORY-METALLIC GOLD-WHITE takes a more refined knowledge of sneakers to fully appreciate it.
