Air Jordan 1 Low Green

Green and denim is the safest pairing and still the best one: straight mid wash jeans, a white tee and an unstructured navy jacket, so the shoe is the only colour below the waist. The alternative is tonal, with olive cargo trousers and a cream knit, letting the two greens sit at different saturations rather than matching. Avoid pairing with red, which turns the whole thing into a costume. Fit runs true to length with a snug midfoot. Brush the white midsole after wear, keep coloured cleaning cloths away from the pale panels, and let the leather dry naturally if it gets caught in rain.

Jordan Brand's move outside basketball is the context for a colourway like this. The division took on the Michigan Wolverines football team as sole equipment provider in 2016 and sponsored Paris Saint-Germain in 2018, its first association football club, while college basketball programmes carrying the brand include North Carolina, Georgetown, Cincinnati and Michigan. A shoe with that many affiliations cannot be owned by one palette. Green is what the Air Jordan 1 wears when it is not representing anybody, which for most buyers is the majority of the time.

Green leather on the Swoosh, collar and heel against a white leather body, with the original panel breaks preserved so the colour sits in defined blocks rather than washing across the shoe. The toe box is perforated, the midsole is foam over a rubber outsole, and the low collar leaves your ankle unsupported, which means lace tension across the eyestay is doing the holding. Green dyed leather holds tone well and hides light dust, but the white panels next to it are the weak point: any cleaner strong enough to lift a mark from white will also pull colour from the green if it strays. Work the two colours separately with different cloths.