Jordan Brand has chosen high-end collaborators to bring His Airness’ 2nd signature shoe back into the spotlight. In addition to the late Virgil Abloh, J.Balvin, the shops A Ma Manière and Union, as well as the French brand Maison Château Rouge (articles available on this site), contemporary artist Nina Chanel Abney unveils her personal version of the Air Jordan 2.
Born in 1982 in Chicago, Nina Chanel Abney lives and works in New York. Her paintings blend figuration and abstraction to highlight serious subjects in a playful way. Her distinctly bold style exploits the flux and simultaneity that define life in the 21st century. Addressing current issues such as politics and racism, gender and identity, and pop culture, Nina Chanel Abney uses bright colors and strong symbols in her work. In doing so, she presents new ways of addressing important topics and invites viewers to draw their own conclusions. The artist describes her work as « easy to swallow, but hard to digest ».
Nina Chanel Abney unveils an AJ2 with a color palette inspired by the OG version « Chicago ». The artist tweaked the shape of this shoe and made other subtle changes to breathe new life into this 1986 classic.
It consists of a white leather upper with a white reptile textured leather overlay that has been narrowed and reshaped to cover only the lower ankle area. In place of the mudguard, a grey suede overlay with perforations adorns the forefoot and the heel is adorned with a thick red leather reinforcement. The heel tab has also been reworked, it appears reduced and in grey suede, similar to a pull tab glued to the heel and featuring a black Nike badge. The inner lining and laces have retained their black color and to affirm the collab, the artist’s name is affixed in black on the red insole. The whole is based on a yellowed misole and a two-tone outsole grey and red that harmoniously complete the look.
The pair benefits from a special hangtag corresponding to a photo transformed into a painting by Nina Chanel Abney. It represents MJ in action, wearing his 2nd signature shoe, during a game against the Lakers during the 1986-87 season.
The Nina Chanel Abney x Air Jordan 2 is scheduled to be released in women’s sizes on July 8, 2022 at select retailers and on nike.com. More info to come, stay tuned !
