New Air Jordans 'consider' the environment

Nike (NYSE: NKE) announced in early January the 23rd edition of its marquee "Air Jordan" shoe will hit shelves with innovations from its Considered green design philosophy.

Michael Jordan sported No. 23 for most of his NBA career, and the Air Jordan XX3 represents an important marketing anniversary for the company. The sneaker, to be released in January, will be advertised through a series of television advertisements, under the campaign slogan "Become legendary," with additional Internet, retail and street marketing activities, according to a company press release.

“Our goal was to make the Air Jordan XX3 the best basketball shoe ever, both in performance and sustainability," said Tinker Hatfield, Nike’s vice president of innovation design and special projects. Like other shoes designed under the Considered framework, the AJXX3 features stripped down design that eliminates adhesives and environmentally questionable materials. Instead, the shoe uses water-based adhesives and a series of interlocking panels, which required the company to design new machines for manufacturing, Nike reports. An "efficient pattern design" minimizes waste, while the sole uses "enviromentally preferable rubber" and Nike's recycled "ReGrind" material, according to the news release.

Considered began its life at Nike as a line of shoes aimed at "independent consumers," but has since been adopted as the name of the Beaverton, Ore.-based company's global "green" design initiative [see "Nike reconsiders shoe-making story," SI, April 2005.] The company has said it is committed to designing all footwear to meet the company’s baseline or higher Considered standards by 2011; the company has set the same goal for apparel by 2015 and equipment by 2020. Nike sells about 225 million pairs of shoes a year, and posted annual revenue of $17.3 billion in FY2006/2007.

Online magazine Sneaker Freaker reported rumors that a "green" redesign of the Air Jordan was underway as part of an interview with Considered designers Bob Mervar and Peter Fogg in January 2007, but the rumors weren't confirmed until the company's announcement in January. The redesign marks the first shoe in the team-sports category—and the first high-profile shoe in Nike's collection—to adopt the Considered design approach.

Hannah Jones, Nike's vice president of corporate responsibility, told Fortune magazine the Air Jordan XX3 is the equivalent of "a Tesla, not a Prius," referring to the electric, luxury sports car soon to be available from Tesla Motors [see "Tesla Motors nears mass production," SI, April 2007].