Designer Tinker Hatfield echoed Black’s sentiments — in a 2015 interview
with Highsnobiety, he stated: “The 11 is probably the most remarkable
shoe, yes. It was a bold approach to use new materials and new technology.
We worked so hard on the 11 — and Michael liked it way too much. We showed
him the final design in spring of 1995. He was so enthusiastic that he
wore the shoe way earlier than everyone at Nike wanted it. But he didn’t
care. He saw the shoe and couldn’t wait to wear it on the court.”
Incredibly, the “Concord” 11 is the only colorway Jordan wore during the
entire ’95-’96 regular season. In an age where players switch sneakers
every half of a game, it’s almost incomprehensible for someone of Jordan’s
magnitude to wear just one colorway of the same shoe for a full season.
For many, the appeal of the 11 comes down to love at first
sight.
Take collector Sean Collard, for example, who now owns about
20 pairs of Jordan 11s. Collard, who was in college when the 11 first
released, tells us: “I wanted every shoe I saw [Jordan] wear, and seeing
him wearing the 11 for the first time in the 1995 NBA Eastern Conference
Semifinals absolutely blew my mind. They were unlike any sneaker I had
ever seen, and I, of course, wanted them badly."