Air Jordan Retro 18 (XVIII)
The Air Jordan Retro18 (XVIII) was released in 2003. Michael played on for the Wizards, but his knee didn’t quite hold up for all the games. He returned by the end of the season though and ended his career on April 16th 2003 against the 76ers. This time I think we can say with certainty that he’s not coming back again…
New head designer
Creator of the design of the Air Jordan Retro 18 (XVIII) was Tate Kuerbis (Jordan Senior Footwear Designer). A person that had been part of the Jordan footwear design team since 1999 and with Nike since 1995. The inspiration of the design is a combination fo a number of things; Sleek racing lines of the auto world, Carbon fiber-based monocoque of F1 race cars, Race car driving shoes (rubber heel wrap) and Fine Italian dress shoes (bold stitching on the soles).
What’s next?!?
With the Air Jordan Retro 17 (XVII) having had a briefcase and a CD-rom the big question was how the Air Jordan Retro 18 (XVIII) could possibly match this. “What is next?” was the big question for all the sneakerfreaks out there…
Well the Air Jordan Retro 18 (XVIII) was no disappointment. With a new Jordan box with a nice cut out 18 with foil behind it and a new pull-out opening the box itself was just SUPER! Ok, it wasn’t a briefcase, but c’mon I’d rather pay $175 than $200 for AJ’s.
Brush and towel
In the package there was also a brush (black suede hi-tops) and a towel included. A great set of tools that simplifies the cleaning of the shoes.
Both the Air Jordan Retro 16 (XVI) and the Air Jordan Retro 17 (XVII) had a modified model called “+”. With the XVIII’s this was taken a little bit further and a Air Jordan 18.5 was released. The design was pretty similar but the lace cover was lifted off and the Jumpman was brought forward on the side of the shoe. The 18.5 also featured a plastic pants leg-stopper with the years 1985-2003 written on them.