Tinker Hatfield, the designer of Air Jordan III to XV, returned for the XX. Popular demand by die-hard Jordan fans got Tinker involved in the design of the Air Jordan XX. Tinker's inspiration/concept for the AJ 20 came from expensive custom-made trumpets, racing boots and motorcycle tyres.

Tinker's idea for the laser design was from a visit, a few years ago, to master trumpet maker David Monette. Monette's "presentation trumpets" are beautiful and expensive musical instruments that had elaborate cut-outs and engravings.

Tinker said, "I wrote in my original notes, we need to pay respect and celebrate Michael Jordan's past and our own teamwork in the last 20 years in a way that helps us step into the future."

Whence Nike's laser expert, Mark Smith, was brought in to design the XX's midfoot strap. The final design is a complex tapestry of symbols representing MJ's experiences and stories. Each symbol is a cryptic puzzle that only die-hard Jordan fans can deduce.

The XX's was to commemorate 20 years of Michael Jordan's greatness and legend. Each symbol represented a story in Jordan's life. For example, the toolbox with the words POPS represented Michael's late father, James Jordan, who was a real handyman who could fix anything around the house. The symbol of a 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo car and MJ sitting in the back seat represented MJ's mom, Deloris, bringing him along to her office when Michael was grounded from middle school for a week. The Bus Driver cap with golf clubs crossed, represented punishment for anyone losing a bet playing golf. The loser had to wear the bus driver cap on the walk back to the clubhouse.

44DT symbol represented Hall of famer David "Skywalker" Thompson, a superstar college and NBA player that Michael idolised in the mid-70's. David Thompson's North Carolina State college jersey number was 44 and he had a 44 inch vert. He was only 6' 4" but had the hops and explosiveness to score from anywhere and anytime. In the early-70's, dunks were illegal in college game but David Thompson found a way around it by inventing the alley-oop. NCAA couldn't let a black man be dunking on a white boy. That would be bad marketing for its predominantly white fans.

Rumour was that David Thompson could pick a quarter off the top of the backboard. You can see a bit of David in Michael Jordan's game. Those laser-quick moves to the basket, the graceful dunks and explosive leaping ability.

Suffice to say David Thompson's aerial exploits inspired MJ to hone his dunking and leaping abilities. Thompson scored 73 points in the final game of the 1978 season, the fourth highest score in NBA history (ever since Kobe got 81). It was unfortunate DT's playing career was plagued with drug problems, otherwise, he would have been one of the best player in the NBA.

The XX was also inspired by the motorcycle racing boot. There were plans to include a ratcheting closure system to secure the foot and a built-in shoe computer for feedback.

But it was abandoned in the interest of simplicity and cost. There are influences from motorcycle racing boots such as the "shifter pads" in SiDI Vertigo Corsa motorcycle boots and the XX's black suede leather protecting the medial toebox area from toe-drag damage.

The XX is truly unique, in that it has a revolutionary cushioning technology called Independent Podular Suspension (IPS) system developed by Thomas Foxen, senior designer for Nike's Advanced Product Engineering group. Early design sketches showed 20 IPS pods per shoe. Overkill? Yes, and after more than 200 wear-test samples, the final production model has only 10 IPS pods per shoe. The IPS system consists of several variable density Phylon pods that are specifically tuned to different impact zones around the feet. The heel area has a modified encapsulated Air unit incorporated in the pod for extra shock absorption. This revolutionary technology is supposed to be more responsive and lighter than the Zoom Air system. It allows a degree of control in the level of cushioning in different areas of the foot.

The XX also has a controversial feature, its free-floating "Ferrari Rosso Corsa" red ankle strap (or leash as per Brand Jordan's marketing blurb) that just defy gravity and perception. It is an exclamation point that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Seemingly detached from the entire design of the shoe. It's almost as if Tinker had a sudden contemptuous notion to add that strap to the XX just to stir up the already fragile emotions of Air Jordan fans. Contrary to appearances, it does provide some degree of ankle support.

The strap's rutilant influences are the Ferrari 360 Spider convertible. The purpose of the leash is to turn the XX into some type of convertible sneakers.The XX is convertible in a manner of speaking, one can convert the XX to a high-top basketball shoe by attaching the strap to a flip-tab on the tongue. Or one can convert it to a low-top basketball shoe with the ankle leash hanging loosely around one's leg.

Motorbikes, motorbikes, motorbikes. Michael was 12 when he first experienced riding a motorcycle. It was a Honda 60 mini-bike which he and his brother shared. They rode and did stunts on it until both got hurt and a week later, his parents got rid of it. The joy of riding a bike did not return until after his retirement when the Bulls team bought a Harley "Fat Boy" cruiser for coach Phil Jackson after the last championship. Back in 1998, cruiser bikes were making a comeback and Michael got caught up in the hype and bought a few BMW cruiser bikes (eg. 1200LT) for fun. As his riding skills improved, he wanted to ride like a racer, leaning into corners and doing wheelies. Michael bought a Ducati 998 and that was when fun grew. MJ was soon riding bikes with his nephew and friends. It wasn't until he met Montez Stewart that Michael started taking things seriously. Jordan met Montez Stewart (31), of Matteson, Illinois, through a mutual friend. Michael was riding in sweatshirts and jeans and Montez recommended that Michael needed some leathers and safety equipment if he wanted to road-race. The fascination for MotoGP and bike racing snowballed from thereon. Racing in the streets of Chicago is not safe. So, Michael hired the Blackhawk Farms Raceway, South Beloit, Illinois to see how fast he and the other guys could ride when he realised they weren't that good. Michael started mingling with the professionals and hoped to learn from their knowledge and experience.
Now track-racing requires more skill and strategy than road-racing. Hence, Michael attended Jason Pridmore's STAR Motorcycle School to learn the fundamentals of racing. The XX's outsole influence is motorcycle tyres. Its black outsole has "race grooves" across it. Clusters of IPS pods punctuate it. Brand Jordan is sponsoring Montez Stewart in this year’s 2004/05 AMA Repsol Superstock and Pro Honda Oils Supersport classes.












Jordan, in fact, has organised support for road racer Montez Stewart to compete in the 2004 AMA Road Racing Championship.

Jordan Brand Racing team is called Team 23 Racing. The team is owned by Edward Scott LLC with primary sponsorship from Brand Jordan, a subsidiary of Nike managed in coordination with the five-time NBA MVP Jordan. Stewart will ride the #123 Yamaha R1 in Repsol Superstock and the #123 Yamaha R6 in Pro Honda Oils Supersport.

Check out Montez's interview on how he got sponsored by Jordan.

Head Designer :
Tinker Hatfield

Technical Specs :
Leather, Patent and Nubuck uppers with laser-etched highlights, phylon midsole supporting twenty I.P.S.(Independent Podular Suspension) "pods" on the outsole and the midfoot has an internal shank plate. Ankle leash and laser midfoot strap.

Price :
US$175 (in Feb 19, 2005)

Packaging :
2005 Black & Red box with a flip top in the middle which is secured by velcro. Side of box has embossed JORDAN. Embossed laser pattern paper wrapping, large nylon shoe bag with thick drawstrings. Comes with a Special 20th Anniversary Coaster.

Colorways & pics (from www.niketalk.com )

Original 2005
Feb 19, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 White/Varsity Red-Black 310445-161 $175.00
Mar 26, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Trainer White/University Blue-Black 310145-141 $90
Mar 26, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Trainer White/Black-Varsity Red 310145-101 $90
Mar 26, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Trainer Black/Varsity Maize 310145-071 $90
Mar 26, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Trainer White/Red-Grey 310145-162 $90
Apr 9, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Black/Varsity Red-Black 310445-001 $175.00
Apr 9, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 (Limited Release/Urban Accounts) White/Black-Varsity Red 310455-101 $175
June 1, 2005 AIR JORDAN Retro Dub-Zero White/Black-Light Photo Blue 311046-102 $150.00
June 4, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Low White/Midnight Navy-Neutral Grey 311247-142 $125.00
July 1, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Regional Pack $175
                   310455-102 Varsity Red/White-Black (Midwest)
                   310455-411 University Blue/White-Black (West)
                   310455-711 Chutney/White-Black (East)
Aug 1, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 Low Black/Chartreuse-Light Graphite 311247-031 $125.00 CANCELLED
Aug 1, 2005 AIR JORDAN Retro Dub-Zero White/White-Ceramic 311046-111 $150.00
Sept 1, 2005 AIR JORDAN Retro Dub-Zero Black/Black-Taupe 311046-001 $150.00
Dec 10, 2005 AIR JORDAN Retro Dub-Zero White/Black-Varsity Red-Neutral Grey 311046-103 $150.00
Dec 10, 2005 AIR JORDAN 20 3/4 White/Metallic Silver-Deep Garnet 312348-101 $125

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