One evening in 2005, back when the now-iconic Los Angeles sneaker boutique Undefeated was just a three-year-old upstart, a trio of luminaries strolled through the shop’s door. Mark Parker, then Nike’s co-president; Tinker Hatfield, the GOAT designer behind virtually all the most beloved Air Jordan models; and, uh, Lance Armstrong.
Almost immediately, Undefeated co-founder James Bond recalls, a connection was forged. Hatfield and Bond’s fellow co-founder Eddie Cruz began, inevitably, to talk about their favorite Jordans ever. “Eddie was wearing a Jordan 4, I think,” Bond says. “And [Eddie suggests] they should do one in the color of a Blackberry phone, which were popping back then.” Notes were taken. Calls were made. And a few weeks later, lo and behold, the first sample for the Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 showed up at the Undefeated offices.
Only a handful of folks were in the room that day, Bond remembers. One of them was Paul Mittleman, the former Stussy designer and close Undefeated associate, who made an observation that would quite literally change the course of sneaker history. “He said, ‘Man, if you’re really going to do something you should base it on the ethos of Undefeated,’” Bond says. Out went the Blackberry look, in came the military-inspired aesthetic that served as the basis for Undefeated’s burgeoning in-house streetwear line. They decided to model their second swing at the AJ4 after a classic MA-1 bomber jacket, with olive nubuck uppers and safety orange detailing. The new sample arrived some weeks later. This time they kept it.
Twenty years ago, Air Jordan collaborations were far rarer than they are today, with Mike’s signature line fiercely protected as hallowed ground by the Swoosh. Undefeated was the first boutique ever to be granted its own colorway. But at the time, Bond says he and his team had no intention of changing the paradigm of sneaker culture. “We just wanted to do cool stuff,” Bond says. And while they recognized the gravity of the opportunity, the Undefeated squad could never have anticipated what came next.
