Nike introduced the first Air Jordan sneaker in 1985.
The Air Jordan line was created for basketball player Michael Jordan, who entered the NBA with the Chicago Bulls in 1984. Nike launched the Air Jordan 1 during the 1984–85 basketball season, pairing performance design with an unusually strong personal brand identity.
Peter Moore designed the shoe, whose original high-top versions used bold color blocking and the Wings logo. The NBA famously fined Jordan for wearing a black-and-red colorway that violated the league’s uniform rules, although the precise details are often simplified in advertising.
Nike had already used the Air name in other products, so Air Jordan was a new athlete-focused sub-brand rather than Nike’s first cushioned shoe. Later Jordan models became separate releases, but the 1985 launch established the line.