The folks at Sole Collector had a chance to speak to Jordan Brand executives about the direction of Air Jordan for 2015, which happens to be the 30th anniversary of the brand. Check out the interview here. Some highlights include the Jordan employees talking about making retros to the exact specifications of the originals, something many sneakerheads of been clamoring for. The Jordan Brand will focus first on the retro 4, 7 and 10 for Spring 2015, with “remastered” versions featuring Columbia Blue, French Blue, and Varsity Red, respectively.
Definitely check out the interview and comment below on your thoughts on the renewed Jordan Brand. Do you think the higher quality will increase the retail price, and by how much? Also, what’s your threshold for retro sneakers (retros will cost 10-15% more.) Again, Let your voice be heard below.
Man… This is just getting out of hand, when will the madness end?
What do you mean by the madness? You mean the price increase?
It shouldn’t raise the price (the price has been inflated to epic proportions already for no legitimate reason) but ultimately it will. They will enjoy the pure profit and their child slaves will enjoy the new supple dimpled leather on their scarred hands. Its a win win.
It should raise the price (they literally have to go out of their way to find someone to source the new materials.) You are correct that the last few price raises had no reasoning, but retros have been in high demand and Nike is a business who’s always looking to increase profitability.
If you read the interview, there is a mention of best practices for labor so I suggest reading it for more information.
It doesn’t cost more than $25 to make a retro jordan. If a premium nike blazer or nike dunk cost $125 shouldn’t the Jordan’s with leather and 20 year old technology cost about the same? Nope it’s just hype prices… According to a leaked cost sheet. The jordan 1 og cost $16 to make then retails for $140. The prices are high enough…it’s just a PR spin to justify the price increase
I dont disagree with you completely but we’re talking about Jordan as a brand. If you take the Camry and put a Lexus logo on it – which is basically what the AJ1 is compared to the Nike Dunk – then that Camry is now worth ‘X’ amount more just based on the name. Jordan Brand used to be about elegance, premium crafted products inspired by the greatest player ever. Somewhere down the line costs became too great so that they would no longer make the percentage of profit they wanted to so quality and manufacturing wind up taking a hit. They’re bringing things back to basics and it’ll cost money. Money they dont want to eat so they pass it onto consumers. Have you owned more than 1 generation of iPhone’s? If you have then you’ve paid more for the same product but done up in a smaller shell. So if I were to think with your logic then Im paying more for less, but its not always that simple. I think until people have a full understanding of what it takes to run, manage and operate something as large as Jordan Brand or Nike then they simply do not have the knowledge to make an educated comment on it. Its so simple for people to say, they should just do this or that but if it were that easy, they would be. The problem is that they’ve decided to take that easy way out and now they realize that was a mistake.
I understand your point but you didn’t put in the factor research and development for an iPhone. A majority of apples product goes into r&d. Where is the r&d for retros besides sourcing? Sourcing is automatic. Your point is valid on profit margins..I’m just saying that the current profit margin on retro Jordan’s is high enough to make a profit with out wanting to raise prices. I believe jordan brand wants to keep the same margin but they’re spinning the reason as to why they want to increase prices. They’re billion dollar company for reason…I’m just calling BS as to why the price increase is there
Like I said, I dont totally disagree lol. Apple does just as much R&D as a company like JB. Apple is right down the street from me and I know plenty of people that work there. The R&D for new innovations is extremely high but for iPhones, thats their version of a Retro. Its really the same thing each time a new one comes out. Little tweaks are made here and there, software changed which will happen anyway – to fix the ‘bugs’ – and all that stuff. Apple is the JB of the tech world right now… them and Google but Google is less on the product side of things for the time being. Business is business and things are run a certain way no matter what. JB is trying to fix their image. Nothing more, nothing less. They ruined it with the crap they had been releasing and now they need to fix it if they want to keep riding the Retro train.
How bad is the quality of the current retros? What have they been skimping out on if I may ask?
I actually haven’t bought a pair of Nike/Jordan brand Retros yet, mainly because I’ve always read that the quality sucks, and I personally didn’t want to spend the money on poor quality retros when I can get newer performance shoes for the same price or less. Other than the issues about quality, I also prefer off brand performance models over retro releases.
Having said that, if the quality of the Nike/Jordan brand retros goes up, I’d consider getting a pair of Jordan 4s or something that I’ve wanted for quite a while, if not, I’ll just skip them again and go for newer performance models from off brands. I just don’t like supporting Nike if they’re going to rip people off with poor quality.
The only retros that I’ve bought are Adidas retros, which seem pretty good to me so far. I’ve got the Adidas Top Ten 2000s and also the Adidas Real Deals. I’m also looking at getting a pair of the Crazy 8s when I find a colorway that I like. I am leaning towards getting that OG colorway that is Black/White/Purple that you showed me in a link a couple of weeks ago. Adidas retro quality seems to be decent IMO.
How would you guys rate the Adidas Retros compared to the current Nike/Jordan Brand Retros?
Adidas Retro models are pretty ode to their OG versions. Can’t say the same for JB/ Nike stuff.
I’m not sure how valid the leaked cost sheet is (could be a photoshop). Also don’t think it factored in freight-on-board costs and the fact that the majority of their sales are sold wholesale rather than full retail.
Jordan didn’t provide PR spin the last few price increases (retros always sell out). We’ll have to wait and see the “OG quality” before we judge on that regard.
Agreed. Doesn’t take into account of any expenses. Salary, health care, advertising, endorsements etc.
Nw you’re right about expenses maybe for endorsements they have to pay Michael Jeffery.. But I’m sure the price to make a blazer is the same as a jordan hi og. And No it wasn’t photoshopped …let me put it you like this I work in manufacturing and sourcing. We deal with various brands that sell dress shoes that cost $35 to make…and when you say cost we include freight, labor, packaging, tariffs etc…the campaniles sell the shoes for $150 and up. So to your point you guys are right…I’m just speaking about sourcing
Its great to hear and be able to communicate topics like this, makes for great conversation… one that I wouldnt be able to have with friends or my spouse since they tend to not care about kicks lol.
For sure that’s why I love this site
This is a load of BS people have complained about quality for years while the price has gone up for unknown reasons and quality is consistently below average. Now they come out with this crap acting like they’re doing everybody a service but it’s just another reason to up the price.
Nightwing and Shoelander23 are straight up smart. Read the comments. Not saying I didn’t think that before.
Not feeling the loss of the plastic mesh on the side of the 4s
We can’t blame JB for the price hike, if people wanted it to stop, they’d have stopped buying. You can toss all the health care, etc crap in all you want. It’s like gas for your car, once they saw you’d pay X dollar they weren’t about to go back to the good old 79 cents a gallon.
Maybe I don’t have my masters in business to make a “educated” guess, but I sure as hell know how supply and demand work. That hasn’t not nor will it ever change. /drops the mic
I don’t think anyone is blaming when it comes to msrp hnic. What has most people questioning the price hike is the fact the shoes msrp is higher than say a nike blazer or terminator but it’s the same leather and rubber used with no r&d. You can get a Johnston & Murphy dress shoe for $150 and it has better leather than a $180 jordan 11 which mostly ballistic mesh. Now true Michael Jeffery gets his endorsement cut for each shoe, I’m not sure what that is. But you are 100% right for supply and demand…I’m just questioning the price hike
I’m with you…it sucks. It’s one reason I haven’t bought a retro jay in ages. There’s a few I want, I even hype myself up for it, then the day comes an I just remember what I paid for a shoe that is better than what they are selling me, on top of being cheaper an I just can’t do it.
Not when the quality of brandblack, Wow encore, and PEAK are doing what they do for new tech that is better and cheaper. I just can’t go scroll down memory lane for the hell of it.
That’s exactly why other brands should be given a chance. Not everyone feels forced out, so to speak, as you may. Thankfully we have options avail. and it’s one thing to complain but still buy but when you make a statement such as not buying, such as you have done, that’s more powerful.
Far as these being OG’s I can’t wait to hold them next to the OG’s I have an see how “true” this statement is. Only time will tell.
This would be really cool, as someone not old enough to see og first hand atleast without remembering them, this will be a great thing personally, as with the price increase if the quality is really good i dont mind because i love nice leathers, and finally if closer to og means more performance oriented that would be great..(silently waits for a remeastered xii)
10-15% increase in retail price = 50-100% increase in resell price lol
There was an article published earlier this year regarding quality of jordan shoes and how it was Jordan’s idea to increase standards… Which got me thinking what does jordan exactly do for jordan brand besides the name? Tinker says he gives input on the flagship model but what does he actually do on a day to day basis? Does he set the direction each season? Or does he just collect endorsement checks every pay period.
He is the face and brand. He hired people to run the company for him once his playing days were over and you can see what it’s become. I’m glad they’re finally changing their ways.
Good to know thanks
It’s just so crazy to me looking at all my old Jordan boxes from 2004-2006, they were all like 135/140 and now theyre at least $40 more. I’m cheap so I have problems paying that much for a shoe that I’ll never wear, I admit I would like to get a pair here and there… It’s just now the lines are crazy and the stores don’t get as many pairs as they used to. I echanged the retro bred 11’s when they first came back out for a differemt size a week after they came out.when the black and white 12’s retrod the first time I bought a pair for a friend as well as myself. Now we have lines that fill up the parking lot, websites that crash, and you can only get one shoe at a time. I got into J’s and Nike’s because I loved them as a child, but my mother liked to pay bills. So when I got a little money I bought as many as I could which wasn’t hard 10 years ago, I would spend about 1500 a year on J’s and Nikes. I had to go cold turkey to beat my addiction, if I bought all the shoes I wanted now, Christ I think I’d be the freshest homeless guy. There’s so much hype now that the price will just keep going up, I’m guessing at least every 2 years. I’m jsut hoping to get a pair of blue 6’s and my new Unicorns, the bred 11’s, then I think I’ll quit, again. lol
Crap, excuse all the spelling errors, I hit post before I hit the spell check, my English teachers are rolling in their graves right now.
If your looking to buy quality shoes for a price similar to Jordans i suggest you check out the custom NB 574 on their website. The shoes are made by Americans that get payed extremely well compared to the basic slave labor in china. The quality on the shoes are superb considering they use premium suède and full grain leather. I know NB shoes are not for everyone and dont hâve the crazy following that Jordan Brand does but considering that you are actually getting a quality shoe that is unique.
Seems like the “sneakerheads” that didnt grow up in the MJ era are all mindless zombies when it comes to Jordans.
I personlly wont be buying any more Jordans in the foreseeable future. If they want to jack the prices up again at least bring some labor to the states and pût quality italian, calfskin, and kangaroo leather on Jordans. If Jordan brand would actually treat the workers in Asia well and payed them WAY more the less the 2 dollers a hour and totally upgraded their quality control i might consider buying a pair. But at the end of the day this will never happen because all Jordan Brand runs on is greed. They want the money out of our wallets and we just blindly shell it out. Do you ever ask yourself what working in one of those factories would be like? Probably not. We as a whole néed to wake up out of this trance Jordan brand has on us and truly realize the monster that we created.
Factories aren’t owned or operated by the brands. It’s Chinese owners treating their own people that way. JB also stated better QC.
NW JB stated that they pût their new “quality control” into place this year. Then why are we still getting retros that are not quality. My 11 lows patent leather was off and one sole was yellowing a Little more then the other.
Quality control isn’t about material quality, it’s making sure the shoes are put together nicely.
As long as the quality is increasing we shouldn’t boycott JB because of a higher price IMO…
Sneakerheads – me including – are willing to pay 200+$ on the resell market. So why don’t pay 200$ to the retailer?
Because we only buy from the reseller if we have to. I rather go buy my js from the mall or any other nike account but if you can’t get them from there where do you get them from? The reseller! So if jb would make more product they would cut down that many resellers. And it’s a slap to the face that after all these years they are now stepping up the quality. You should never worry about the quality when you buy a pair of nikes or Jordan’s no matter what price they should have that priority #1 in the first place.
If this is really going to happen I want OG quality Chicago 2’s.
Yesss italian leather!!!
Will cop those tens will probably cop all three but definitely those tens
I feel the same way as some of the folks who have posted here, I have played in Jordans my whole life, but I’d rather get run over by a freight truck than line up to buy a pair of sneakers that are made of second rate materials, that are being flogged on the market for outrageous amounts of money, and that have become status symbols for trend hoppers who don’t know the first thing about basketball…I appreciate the legacy and I will always marvel at some of my favorite designs, but the Jumpman has become associated with a lot of things that I hold in contempt. Perhaps it has always been this way, but when I was younger I probably couldn’t think these things through….
I do, however, make an attempt to try out the AJ that comes out every year if possible, and I have been a huge fan of the CP and Melo series for three or four seasons now, JB make serious performance kicks, pity these are eclipsed by the more glamorous retros.
And as for Chinese factory labor, NW, I don’t want to get into a huge wrangle about this, as I could say a lot about the subject, but I think that even you know that your comment about ‘Chinese people treating their own people that way’ is really a bit glib and disingenuous. You can’t seriously mean to tell me that JB privately wish that workers weren’t put to the sword quite so much, if Chinese workers got a raise and shorter working hours businesses would pack up and move to Vietnam or Bangladesh or wherever it is that people are comPelled to work more for less, you surely know that as much as I do.
I think that anybody who wears Nike and JB products, or indeed any commodity that is produced in largely inhumane conditions for consumers affluent enough to purchase them, is at least to some degree conscious of the fact that they are participating in the perpetuation of a deeply unsavory state of affairs…and if they’re not, I feel like that is a problem that shouldn’t be passed over so easily.
Sorry, man, but you can’t tell me that you dont wish to speak on this and then go and throw out all of your feelings on the subject. What I said is true, its always been true and this type of thing happens in every country, not just China. To wear a product by a brand that hires a factory to do a task doesnt mean that you approve of the practice but we all acknowledge that its there. Just like racism… just like prejudice etc. Don’t act too high and mighty about things like this bc we are all guilty of buying these products. Every single last one of them from every brand you wear hires the same type of factories to complete the same type of task. They turn a blind eye towards it just as you or I. You cannot tell me any different unless you make your own clothes, shoes, computers, parts, car etc.
Dont get so easily offended by things you cannot change just because someone isnt afraid to be blatantly honest about it. When I say ‘it is what it is’ it refers to the fact that its the way things are and you can either move on or choose to dwell on it.
As for being disingenuous… it means “not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.” which is far from the truth and I’m surprised that you’d even say that about someone you don’t know on a personal level. How can one interpret what I said as not being sincere when all I did was say the truth… doesnt make sense.
Anyways, Im not one to discuss politics about these types of things bc people tend to get real butt hurt but just dont point fingers and act as if youre better than the rest of us when you’re just as guilty of it.
It doesn’t mean that you approve of the practice? Alright, I’ll leave everything at that…
And I never said I was better. In fact I am probably much worse for feeling so strongly about the subject, for having personal experience of what happens in said factories, and continuing to purchase, though sparingly, products produced in said conditions.
Sorry if my discomfort comes across as self-righteousness, and sorry if I come across as being ‘easily offended’ when you outsource the blame and moral responsibility for brutal labor conditions to some supposed ‘Chinese people’ who, i assume, are behind the curve when it comes to decency, guess that ‘is how it is’ in our globalized world….
Should never have said anything, really
Like I said bro, all factories do it as do all countries. It’s not a Chinese thing until were talking about a factory in china, which in this case we were. Indonesia, Korea, Egypt. All of these factories are poorly managed and abuse the lacking labor laws in their respective countries. I’m sorry that you had to experience whatever it is you did, nobody can begin to even understand where you’re coming from since you choose to not discuss it this making it seem as if you’re being overly sensitive. I try to look at situations from all point of views, maybe that’s why I can be so blunt bc things are just the way they are and I know I cannot change that but I wish to understand it.
Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts and experiences… next time just don’t say that I’m being disingenuous and whatnot when you don’t know me and my way of thinking the same as I don’t know you and yours.
Peace
Admittedly I am pretty sensitive about things of this nature…
To return to the subject at hand,though, I find it a bit incomprehensible that Jordans continue to be such coveted fashion items/status symbols, considering how attention deficient the fashion world is, in hong kong you find muchmore than your fair shareof people who buy retrosfrom specialty boutiques that sell 11s for aboutfive timesthe retail price…the consequence of this is that you see a pair of breds, spacejams or Concords everyfive minutes in certain areas of the city…bizarre. A lot of this has to do with the fact that certain Taiwanesepop stars sport Js on the regular….strangely enough quite a few people who rock 28s in Ho g kong don’t even play ball, they bought the blackand neon greenpair simply because a famous singer was spotted wearing them to the airport or something
That’s how it is here in the States, but you’re seeing J’s on everybody. Even old ppl lol. And it’s cool to be sensitive about something so long as the person you’re speaking to knows and understands where you’re coming from.