Continuing their assault on sneakerhead wallets, Jordan Brand releases another classic colorway that hasn’t been seen at dealers for a long time. Returning this weekend is the Air Jordan 11 Low IE “Cobalt.”
For those that don’t know, the IE version of the AJ11 is the low top version (duh) that has quite a few changes from its higher cut brother. Besides the lower cut, the biggest change is that it does away with the patent leather that the XI is known for. In it’s place is a mudguard that was designed for more ventilation via opened areas and the addition of “elephant” print, borrowed from the Air Jordan 3. Another changeup is the usage of tumbled leather on the rest of the stitched uppers–quite a bit different from the ballistic nylon of the original. Down low though the same combination of a Phylon midsole, full length Air unit, and carbon fiber shank is used, along with the translucent outsole that features rubber inserts for traction.
Originally released during the summer of 1996 after Jordan and fellow Bulls’ teammates wore the regular version to an all-time best 72-10 regular season and championship, the colorway was made for summer but not exactly Chicago uniforms. This is a model that we never got to see MJ wear on court, although the 2003 retro has been worn by PJ Tucker recently and Gilbert Arenas during his sneaker-free-agent time. Just like the last retro, the 2015 version is visually very close to the original. Really, there isn’t much to mess up since the sneaker is primarily white and shades of grey with the Cobalt on the all-important tongue Jumpman and outsole as well as the rubber outsole pods.
It’s been over twelve years since its last retro release but the return of the “Cobalt” Air Jordan 11 Low IE has been a long time coming. Now built with Jordan’s higher “Remastered” standards, if you want to take it back to the summer of 1996 these should be on your radar.
Robbie Falchi
Aaron Nojima