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- Upper
- Leather
- Released
- 2022
- Colourway
- Dark Iris
Air Jordan 3 Retro Dark Iris
Air Jordan 3 Retro Dark Iris
- Upper
- Leather
- Released
- 2022
- Colourway
- Dark Iris
DELIVERY AND AUTHENTICATION
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Culture Note™
Designed by Tinker Hatfield and released on 24 August 2022 as part of the Air Jordan 3 line. This release has a leather upper in White/Black/Dark Iris/Cement Grey. Dark Iris takes the Air Jordan 3, the model where Tinker Hatfield rewrote what the line was, and runs it in a deep purple. The III is the shoe that introduced the elephant print and moved the Jumpman onto the tongue, two decisions that still define the brand's visual language, and the reason a purple version works is that the shape is confident enough to carry a colour no basketball team gave it. That Jumpman came from Peter Moore having Jordan recreate a split legged leap in Bulls gear for the camera. Dark Iris is the 3 as an object rather than as equipment. Style code CT8532 105.
Purple is a colour most people avoid because they treat it as a statement. Treat it as a dark neutral instead. First: black straight leg trousers with a break at the collar, a black knit, and let the print supply all the texture. Second: mid grey sweatpants and a grey hoodie, where the purple reads as a deep shadow rather than a colour. Occasion is evening, casual, city. Fit is true to size with a roomier toe box than a 1. Care: soft brush on the print, damp cloth on the smooth leather, a conditioner every few weeks since dark dyes dull before they dirty, and keep the midsole clean so the shape stays legible.
Elephant print is the most recognisable material code in the brand and now signals Jordan on its own, without a logo, which is why colour changes on the 3 read as variations on a known theme rather than as new shoes. The model landed while Air Jordan was being pushed into culture by hip hop and by Nike's Spike Lee directed advertising, with Lee playing Mars Blackmon opposite Jordan. The line created sneaker collecting as a mass activity, and the 3 is the model collectors point to when they explain where the design series actually begins.
The 3 is a mid cut shoe with a leather upper, elephant print applied at the toe and heel, a Jumpman on the tongue, a padded collar and a reinforced eyestay. Nike Air cushioning has been in the line since the Air Jordan II and sits under a rubber outsole. Deep purple has a specific advantage over white on this model: the print panels stay visible without the surrounding leather demanding constant cleaning, and pavement grey does not settle into a dark upper the way it does into a pale one. The toe box is where the flex creases will show, since that panel does the most work.
- Upper
- Leather
- Released
- 2022
- Colourway
- Dark Iris
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