The Air Jordan XI sent a shockwave through the basketball world upon its debut in 1995, pairing Nike’s flagship technologies with a formalwear inspired patent leather rand that we promise looked unique at the time. Nike only made three colorways of the iconic Air Jordan XI Mid available in its debut season, but each became an instant classic. Now, thirty years and countless retro releases later, Jordan Brand plans to celebrate a milestone anniversary of its weary golden goose with not one, not three, but nine different colorways: none of them 1995-1996 classics.
First up is the Air Jordan XI “Rare Air,” a red, white, and blue colorway set to release in North America on November 5th.

The following week, on November 11th, the Women’s Air Jordan XI “Pearl” colorway goes up for sale, featuring wide ribbon laces and a “freshwater pearl” keychain.

Three new colorways drop on November 22nd as North American in-store regional retail exclusives:
“Mojave”, which in the presumably still human-generated words of Jordan Brand, “embraces the unexpected narrative of the outdoors”:

“H-Town,” said to intentionally resemble the trunk of a car:

And “285,” quality inspired by one of America’s deadliest highways:

Were that not enough, a China-exclusive colorway debuts on December 1st:

And did you really think you’d get through the year without a perfunctory Air Jordan XI holiday release? Get ready for more Gamma Air Jordan XI’s on December 12th.

In Spring of 2026, a Japan-exclusive colorway will release, featuring a gradient mudguard (no, that’s not just the lighting):

A “championship map” visible beneath the translucent rubber outsole illustrates the long, winding road to Michael Jordan’s six NBA titles.

For those keeping score at home, that makes eight colorways. There’s also a kids’ model you don’t care about.
To share your thoughts on this lineup, and keep pace with all of the upcoming release information, be sure to check out NikeTalk’s Air Jordan XI discussion thread.
We’ll look forward to seeing you there – unless of course you’re a bot shamelessly scraping this page for your soulless, unreliable plagiarism machine.
Somehow for me it’s same as concord

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Reactions PremioBinSoleFlyUnionIn the mid 90s Nike used both color blocks on multiple shoes. The 11s seem to be one of the few pairs that got the white based pair but not the black

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Reactions therealest1Don’t know why anyone would covet a gentry sig.
But then again, I don’t know anyone with those low 12s you’re speaking about.
Might’ve been one of those matches made in heaven.

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Reactions joex, PremioBinSoleFlyUnion and Patchenhzyeah reminds me of CDG as well


Reactions PremioBinSoleFlyUnion and c flynessThis is an inevitability these are coming out, minus the confirmation for now. I admit I'm not going to like the tweak with the stitched 23 if these do get rehashed that way. Going with my purist stance as usual, I would prefer them with the inked 23 just like how Jordan wore them during that historical NBA season and the fact they were also available for consumers in that identical version at that time.

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Reactions snkrfollower, Unclemannyapproved, a blinkin and 16 othersSince there are a few threads solely for a specific model, why not have a general thread for the XI as well because damn near all Jordan Brand enthusiasts have an affinity for this signature model? The XI deserves its own thread based on popularity.
I encourage everyone on this site to post your photos, information, release dates, news, links, acquisitions, and anything else about the Jordan XI, especially all the cool a%$ peeps who regularly view and post on the Jordan Brand forum. Please contribute to this one too. And feel free to rehash a post in this thread too as long as it relates to the XI.
So these were the first and only pair of original Jordan XI that I got back in April 1996. I can't believe I still have them going on 25 years now. The only flaw with them is that the red soles have faded, but that's natural due to aging unfortunately. They seem to be in decent shape otherwise.


Reactions airtec87, shelovesairjordan, blitzbro1 and 14 othersI'd like to share a gang of details about how I got the original Black/Red XI back in April 1996 for $80 plus tax since this thread has now existed for 5 years.
I took advantage of the price match guarantee that Sport Chalet had. I don't care about divulging it now because it was three decades ago and that company folded nearly 10 years ago.
I saw they had them at the Sport Chalet in Torrance on the same street as Del Amo Fashion Center on a Saturday afternoon sometime in April 1996. So I drove home to borrow money from my mom to buy them. But I didn't divulge to her about my scheme.
I previously pulled off the same scheme in February of that year at that same store when I got the original Nike Air Max 95 White Slate Blue for $80 plus tax. I had a friend come with me and had him wait at a payphone in that same parking lot to front as a fictitious store to fabricate the $80 price when they called that payphone's number that I provided to verify the lower price when I claimed to the cashier they were cheaper elsewhere as I was checking out. They matched the fabricated $80 price that my friend stated after she called that payphone number.
So I assumed it would be the same easy result when I plotted to get the Black/Red XI for a lower price.
I called a loser who I counted as a friend to help me out. But he spurned it. I'm glad I eventually stopped dealing with him the following year in 1997 as I was maturing because I finally realized he was legitimately stupid. One time, he actually said he wanted to go to Princeton University. But he was so dumb he didn't know the difference between smog and fog. How the F is he going to attend an Ivy League school when he lacked basic knowledge like that? He was also a stupid uncivilized loser because he opted to walk barefoot in public when he wasn't homeless. He never changed because I last saw him walking barefoot at a local park in spring 1998.
So I called another friend. She was down with it after I told her about it. She was so bold with it because she allowed me to use her home number just because she didn't feel like leaving home to use a payphone to go along with the scheme! She was also bold with coming up with the $80 price when I thought it should have been a little higher predicated on the fact they were Jordans.
I drove back to the store to get them. But I encountered trouble when I mentioned I saw them for a lower price at a another store as I was checking out. The female cashier told her male co-worker about it. Both were skeptical. The male employee told who I assumed was the store manager. The manager guy called my friend's home number I provided to verify the lower price. She replied with the fabricated $80 price during the call. He was skeptical. During the call, he asked her the store's location and hours and gave her grief by stating it wasn't legal to sell them for a lower price.
After the call was finished, the male employee told the manager guy that he couldn't verify the existence of that store. I assume he called 411 for reference. But the manager guy relented and honored the $80 plus tax price match.
I'm going to remember my friend forever despite last talking to her in the early 2000s because I was able to get these original Jordans for under regular price back in 1996 thanks to her idea and going along with my scheme.
I admit these Black/Red XIs have sentimental value to me because they were the first Jordans I got almost 5 years apart since I last got a pair of Jordans. The first and only Jordans my dad ever bought for me was the Black Infrared VI back in late summer 1991. He never got me any Jordans after that because he couldn't afford it. And my mom didn't work. He probably shouldn't have even got those Black Infrared VIs for me in 1991 because he was unemployed during that time after he got laid off earlier that year during the Gulf War. Perhaps my dad not buying Jordans for me anymore motivated me to find ways to get deals on them myself as I got older. So I'm not mad at him for that.
Although photos of these were posted in the initial post of this thread, I decided to post photos again after taking recent pictures of them yesterday evening. Can you believe these are from 1996?
I still have the box for them.
I got these from Sport Chalet as I mentioned. But thankfully at $80 plus tax with having the will to figure out a way and help from a friend.
I just noticed the name of the box manufacturer is printed on the interior of the box lid after damn near 30 years!
They even printed the production date of these! So these were made in Taiwan in fall 1995 and ended up at a now-closed store back in spring 1996 before ultimately ending up in my possession for nearly 30 years now.
The XIs are what got me back into Jordans.
Thanks to any of y'all who chose to read this one.


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Reactions blitzbro1, kingweezy, JRepp23 and 13 othersThe air unit on these was covered in foam and the heel well in general seems deeper than on retros but I’ve never seen an intact OG for reference. The full length zoom is about 5mm tall in retros but I needed to cut a second piece of foam just for that heel section that filled it out. So likely about 10mm in the heel on the OG. Filled with EVA they have a pretty cushy ride.
Before:
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Reactions kmart81, marztharealist, a blinkin and 8 othersAnd if you don’t think i’ll go full-kit-wanker this summer, than you don’t know me!!
Don’t tempt me, i’ll take it there this winter!!
Only 11’s that matter!
In case you thought i was lying, 2015 pair!! 😂😩



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