Since 2003, Jordan Brand has partnered annually with Portland’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital as part of the « Doernbecher Freestyle » program. Each year, patient designers create shoes, and the proceeds from the sales are donated to the hospital to help sick children. Due to the global health crisis, this program was put on hold in 2020, but a AJ1 « What The » was developed anyway.
The « Doernecher Freestyle » program allows a group of children between the ages of 8 and 15 to work with Nike designers on a range of footwear. The result of this collaboration is made public and put on sale. Since its launch 17 years ago, this event has raised more than $29 million for the hospital, including $1,898,525 with the 2019 collection. In order to mitigate the impact of VIDOC-19, which did not allow the program to proceed as planned, the teams redesigned the project to ensure that it would still be a public event.
Instead of a pack, a single Air Jordan 1 « What The » was produced. It celebrates the 14 models of the patient-designers from the Air Jordan Doernbecher genealogy. This sneaker offers a legacy style by featuring elements from each of the 14 previous designs. It’s made of high-end materials and consists of an upper combining various prints and shades. In past years, these shoes have been widely released. But in honor of the 17th year of the program, only 17 pairs were created.
The first Doernbecher x Air Jordan 1 « What The » was auctioned at the Virtually Freestyle event on February 25, 2021. The remaining 16 iterations will be auctioned on eBay from February 26, 2021 to March 3, 2021. All proceeds from the sales will benefit the patients and staff of Doernbecher Hospital.
