Air Jordan 1 RETRO High OG Dark Mocha

Recipe one, tonal earth: brown corduroy or khaki trousers, a cream knit and an olive jacket, letting the shoe close a warm column. Recipe two, contrast: raw indigo denim stacked over the collar, a white tee and a black leather jacket, so the mocha is the only warm note in a cold outfit. Occasion is street and evening, autumn through winter. Fit is standard length; a mid crew sock protects the ankle while the OG collar softens. Care: brush dry dirt first, condition the brown leather two or three times a year to keep it from going flat, keep the sail panels clean, and store cool and out of sun so the two tones do not drift apart.

The high is the shape that carries the model's history: the Banned advertising, built from the NBA's rule requiring shoes to be at least fifty one percent white and Nike's decision to pay the five thousand dollar per game fine rather than redesign; Spike Lee directing and playing Mars Blackmon; and 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Ice Cube and Jay-Z carrying it through music. Brown palettes on this silhouette also sit close to the territory the collaboration programme opened up through Travis Scott's Cactus Jack work on the 1, 4 and 6, which is part of why earth toned 1s are read as fashion pieces rather than sportswear.

Leather panels in dark brown, black and a sail toned ground, split along the original toe, quarter, Swoosh and heel divisions, with the darker material carrying the overlays and the pale ground doing the contrast. The OG high collar is padded and gives the model its upright stance. The first Air Jordan predates the Nike Air cushioning the line took on from the second shoe, so the ride is a stitched cupsole and foam wedge: firm, flat and honest, softening over a fortnight. Wings branding at the collar. Sail panels warm and yellow over time, which suits brown better than it suits white, so this colourway generally ages in its own favour rather than against it.