The 5 received an added pop cultural boost from two notable icons: Will Smith and Mars
Blackmon. After Smith donned countless 5s on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the shoe became all but synonymous with the sitcom star. Jordan Brand even went ahead and made the ties official with ‘Bel-Air’ colorways of the 5 hitting shelves in 2013 and 2020. But if there’s a single indelible pop cultural image of the 5, it’s Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon. The acclaimed filmmaker had reprised his She’s Gotta Have It character in Jordan commercials for a couple of years by that point, but it was the Air Jordan 5’s TV spot that gave us one of sneaker culture’s most indelible phrases: “It’s gotta be the shoes!”

The 5 hasn’t had quite as many hot collaborations as other Jordan models, but over the years, it’s still been reinterpreted by a handful of top-tier creatives. Perhaps most notably, Virgil Abloh put his mark on the silhouette with two Off-White interpretations: a riff on the original ‘Black Metallic’ colorway and a ‘Fire Red’ take. This year, a handful of major releases have joined that canon: August’s Awake NY Jordan 5 was a serious standout, while last month saw a long-awaited re-release of the coveted ‘Tokyo’ colorway.

Now, Jordan Brand is further blessing the 5 with a celebratory 35th anniversary colorway. The sneaker more or less takes the original ‘Fire Red’ colorway and subs in pink details—possibly a riff on one of Tinker Hatfield’s early sketches of the shoe. It also adds Nike Air branding to the heel, an OG flourish typically reserved for notable collaborations and original colorways. All in all, it’s a great reminder to the sneaker world to never forget to give the middle child its due.

The Air Jordan 5 ‘Anniversary’ drops on October 10 via SNKRS and select retailers for $215.