Michael Jordan’s Original ‘Bred’ Air Jordan 1 Is Getting Its Best Rerelease Yet
Throughout the brand’s nearly 40-year history, Michael Jordan and Nike, Inc.’s Air Jordan line has produced countless sneakers that helped shape the modern athletic footwear market. Yet, despite a seemingly endless array of classics, there’s one shoe that is arguably the most important of them all, and it’s making a long-awaited comeback in 2025.
The original “Bred” Air Jordan 1 High will be released in Jordan Brand’s vintage-informed ’85 form next year. Most commonly referred to as the “Bred” (a portmanteau for black and red), the sneaker has also been nicknamed “Banned” due to its lore of being forbidden from on-court use by the NBA.
Using a two-tone black-and-red color scheme, this original Air Jordan 1 High is composed of an all-leather upper. It’s one of several original Air Jordan 1 colorways and wasn’t the only pair to use the colors of Jordan’s Chicago Bulls team, but it has become the most notorious in the decades since its original release.
Designed by Peter Moore, the black-and-red Air Jordan 1 didn’t immediately win over the NBA legend who would go on to make the shoes famous.
“I can’t wear those colors, those are the devil’s colors,” Jordan reportedly told Moore in protest before being eventually coaxed into wearing the now-legendary design.
The style got a boost from Nike’s advertising team, which used the NBA’s banning of a different black-and-red shoe worn by Jordan in his rookie year, the Air Ship, to market the arrival of the Air Jordan 1. At the time, the NBA’s uniform guidelines required that a player’s shoes had to be 51 percent white and coordinate with the rest of the team’s footwear. Thus, the predominantly black-and-red sneaker was banned from on-court use, and Nike used the ruling as a way to drum up buzz around the soon-to-debut Air Jordan 1.
Due to its significance, the Air Jordan 1 High “Bred” has been reissued on numerous occasions, but the upcoming ’25 iteration is expected to be the closest match to the original 1985 version yet. Jordan Brand’s Air Jordan 1 High ’85 sneakers have been tweaked to resemble the cut and materials of the original pairs, and this is the first time the “Bred” colorway has appeared on the ’85 variation of the shoe.
As of publishing, the Air Jordan 1 High ’85 “Bred” is expected to be released on Feb. 14 at a retail price of $250. This story will be updated with any changes.