Jordan Brand Commemorates the Flight Guy With the “Royal” Colorway

On a cold, crisp morning in 1985, famed sports photographer Chuck Kuhn stepped onto a remote Oregon airstrip to shoot a rising basketball star — Michael Jordan. Rather than wear his team’s iconic red and black, Jordan chose his personal favorite colors: royal blue and black. The shoe he wore that day, the Air Jordan I black/royal, was the first AJ I offered for purchase to the public. The portrait became an iconic poster, coined the Flight Guy — its image etched in street and sport style memory.

To commemorate this iconic moment, Jordan Brand launches the Flight Guy Collection this summer. Highlighted by the AJ I and AJ XXXI, the collection connects an iconic moment to modern innovation while paying tribute to the way legends surprise us… often out of the blue.

The Air Jordan I and Air Jordan XXXI ‘Flight Guy’ will launch globally on April 1.