Nike Air Jordan XI 11's shoes aj11m00001

The Nike Air Jordans XI model was designed by Tinker Hatfield. While Jordan was still pursuing a career in baseball, Hatfield designed the shoe in hopes that Michael would eventually wear it if he returned to the NBA.

The Jordan shoes XI was meant to stand out with a fusion of performance and style. Taken from the world of high-end mountaineering backpacks, the condura nylon upper gave the nike Air Jordan shoes XI model lightweight durability. Further innovation came with the use of a carbon fiber plate on the sole of the shoe, that can be seen underneath the clear outsole, which gave the jordans shoes exceptional torsional rigidity. The most visually distinct aspect of the shoe was its shiny patent leather mid and toebox. A material long used in the fashion industry, patent leather was extremely lightweight, when compared to genuine leather, and also tended not to stretch - a very useful property to help keep the foot within the bounds of the shoebed during quick direction changes on the court. The shiny leather gave the XI what many described as a "formal" look - a fact that many owners of the shoe took advantage of thereafter, pairing the shoe off the court with business suits in substitution for dress shoes. Boyz II Men wore black and white Air Jordan XI shoes with white suits at one of their concerts.

Jordan wore the Air Jordan XI model to help the Chicago Bulls claim the 1995-1996 NBA championship. The legacy of the shoe was transferred to the silver screen as Jordan wore a black/white/royal blue colorway of the Air Jordan 11's shoes model in the 1996 Warner Bros. animated movie "Space Jam" (these shoes were eventually released in 2001 with the tag name "Space Jams") which was then fined for $5,000 for not respecting the Bulls colorway policy.

A 11/12 package is in stores now, with a pair of 11's very similar to that of the O.G. 11's.