How a youth movement is keeping the Air Jordan 11 as popular as ever

Terrance Harvey may have the world’s best job. And in some circles, the most scrutinized.

In October 2024, Harvey was promoted at Nike to the role of senior manager of Jordan Retro Footwear.

Every day, he’s tasked with the exciting yet daunting task of refashioning the Air Jordan 11, Michael Jordan’s patent leather basketball shoes that have dominated and defined sneaker culture for 30 straight years.

Designed by Tinker Hatfield while Jordan was away from baseball and released months after his 1995 NBA comeback, the Air Jordan 11 has incited mayhem when released in limited numbers and set sales records when produced in abundance.

The shoe’s historic foundation of three original colorways – four if you count 1995’s “Space Jam” sample – has been both a blessing and a burden. For Harvey at Jordan Brand, keeping a classic relevant – from crib sizes to old-school collectors – is a daily duty.

“How do I make this coveted model relevant for the youth but not lose our OG consumer?” Harvey told Andscape. “And push it into tomorrow? It’s the toughest job in the industry, I’ll be honest with you.”

For Harvey, 31, a young millennial sneakerhead leading the future of Michael Jordan’s favorite shoe, it’s an obligation involving heavy internal pressures at work and constant noise online.

“I can easily hop on Instagram and see people bashing the AJ11,” Harvey said. “‘They need to put it in the vault! Fire the design team! Who’s the project manager in Beaverton? Get him out!’ I see all the comments.”

Still, he perseveres. 

Arriving at Jordan Brand in 2022 as a merchandising manager focused on Lifestyle Footwear and ascending to a global product line manager who oversaw the $10 billion brand’s Streetwear Apparel line, Harvey has seen the world through the Jumpman’s lens from the ground up.

Thus, he understands both the Day 1 Jordan fan infatuated with nostalgia and the international fashionista who sees Jordan less as an icon and more as a brand.

“The [Day 1 fan] wants OG executions with tried-and-true color blocking, but the younger consumer didn’t grow up with MJ,” Harvey said. “When you step outside of North America, it gets even dicier on who the man is.”

Like Mike, Harvey has found his footing by embracing the pressure. 

It begins with a reverence for the past and an understanding of the product life cycle.

“How I approach it is balancing out,” said Harvey. “When’s the last time we had this OG execution in the market? If it feels like the pairs the consumer last got are still wearable, that probably means we don’t need to bring that color out.”

Next, it moves into a space where risk and reward mount.

“New storytelling,” Harvey said, is an emphasis moving forward on the AJ11. “What are stories that resonate with the youth today but also the OG consumer never heard?”

In late 2025, new stories took over the Air Jordan 11. From silk suede “H-Town” homages to deep purple “Mojave” makeups, the court classic started shedding its skin by playing with non-original motifs and new aesthetic executions such as aged nubuck, debossed branding, and gradient leathers.

The “City Pack,” conceived before Harvey’s October 2024 appointment, introduced eight new takes on the Air Jordan 11, stripping the shoe of its signature patent leather and reintroducing regional releases.

Early impression perplexed purists but slowly gained favor among consumers. Once again, the Air Jordan 11 proved to be a groundbreaking idea, driven by a narrative of surprise and the thrill of the chase attached.

This brazen approach was a shock to many longtime collectors. It’s also just the tip of the iceberg, as the brand zigzags between tried-and-true favorites and new narratives.

“In future seasons, you’ll see how I begin to narrate on AJ11 to bring new consumers in,” Harvey said. “We’re focusing on that. On anniversaries you’ll see how we recontextualize.”

As the Air Jordan 11 turned 30 in 2025, the ability to recontextualize the product was pushed to the limit. 

In 2026, Harvey aims to create new narratives around the storied shoe, drawing on imaginative ties to the past.

“How do I incorporate PEs [player exclusive colorways]? Because I think in itself that draws a new audience.” Harvey said. “I think about people with PEs outside of the 11, like Mike Bibby, Quentin Richardson, Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen, and Fred Jones. All these guys had PEs that never hit the market.”

Already, that type of thinking is rendering unique concepts that reinvent Jordan Brand’s rich reservoir of intellectual property in the coming seasons.

“We have a series called Idols Become Rivals,” said Harvey. “The goal of the series is highlighting athletes that saw MJ as their idol but eventually had to play against him on court.” 

Using a fresh approach to tell new stories on an iconic canvas is what excites both older fans and newcomers.

“As we unfold these series through streetwear, you’ll see how we continue to make these stories resonate on models like the AJ11 for newer consumers,” said Harvey.

It’s a brave path forward inspired by the legends who led the retro department at Jordan Brand before Harvey.

Harvey cites former Jordan Brand creatives such as Gentry Humphrey, Gemo Wong, Frank Cooke and Virgil Abloh as visionaries who handled heritage with care but were fearless enough to expand originals to new spaces.

“Gentry pioneered this world,” Harvey said. “The two best eras are the Gentry era and the Gemo era. I want to find myself in that conversation, and I know the challenge that’s ahead of me.”

Famously, Humphrey introduced the “Cool Grey” palette to the Air Jordan 11 and ushered in the Lifestyle era of retro releases that pulled palettes from streetwear and pop culture to models made famous by basketball.

Similarly, Wong, Cooke and Abloh introduced deconstructed takes on adored Air Jordans, evolving time-tested models to modern fashion.

“There’s a lot of things I’m amazed by that Gentry and Frank were working on,” said Harvey. “I don’t want to bring those things out one-for-one. I want to get in the headspace they were in, the story they were trying to tell, and bring those stories forward today.”

That headspace reveres the past but does not fear the future. It’s a space that’s historically difficult to operate in, but one Jordan Brand has expanded in recent years.

In the 2020s, streetwear-inspired derivatives like the Air Jordan 4 RM have connected in a way most models of a lower price point have failed to resonate. The stripped-down update to 1989’s famed Air Jordan 4 debuted in 2024, offering a style-oriented alternative to the original for $65 less than the adored retro.

Conversely, luxury makeovers of the 2010s have appreciated as fans seek what was once off-center or aspirational.

In 2010, the introduction of the Air Jordan Premio “Bin 23” series was considered ostentatious by some due to the inflated price tag of $175, which was then roughly $25 more than the inline manufacturer’s suggested retail price on most retro releases.

In 2025, “Bin 23” variations of the Air Jordan 2 and Air Jordan 5 from that era commonly garner four-digit resale prices. An abundant consumer base with growing interest in luxury and novelty have heightened the demand for premium products.

Harvey is drawn to both poles of attraction.

“There’s some really cool stories that are going to get told in 2026 and 2027 that are inspired by that Gentry Humphrey era of footwear,” said Harvey. “We’re bringing the Bin 23 series back. No confirmation on a Bin 11, but I’d love to run the AJ11 through the Bin process.”

Because of the work done by those before Harvey, Jordan Brand has amassed a wider audience and expanded freedom due in part to the creative risks of the past. 

Historically, said risks were forbidden on the Air Jordan 11. Internally, everything is now on the table.

“Color blocking in ways we’ve never seen before,” said Harvey. “New comfort options, new foam packaging, new Air bags within. All of the things are being [tried] to make it fresh, make it new. Like anything great, it takes time.” 

In turn, Harvey spends endless hours imagining the future of the Air Jordan 11 while studying the tenets of its past.

Within the walls of the brand’s top-secret archive, he can examine unreleased promo samples produced by the likes of Humphrey, Wong and Cooke. The samples provide a glimpse into the design possibilities of the Air Jordan 11.

“The brand is working through taking the AJ11 to the collaboration space,” said Harvey, months before the debut of the Comme des Garcons x Air Jordan 11 on Jan. 24 at Paris Fashion Week.

“It’s a precious model,” said Harvey. “And we’ve kept it precious for a reason. We’ve had partners like Doernbecher, James Whitner. A lot of people are raising their hands for the collab on the AJ11.”

In recent years, A Ma Maniere founder James Whitner has been granted access to make over multiple Air Jordan stalwarts, including the first six signature models, the Air Jordan 12, and Air Jordan 39.

A Ma Maniere has a strong influence in the modern sneaker market with culturally relevant storytelling, supported by brick-and-mortar locations in Atlanta, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

Whitner and his A Ma Maniere empire would seem ideally positioned to securing an Air Jordan 11 collaboration, given their deep roster of Jordan Brand partnerships and Harvey’s history as a D.C. staffer.

Still, it’s all a work in progress and one committed to thorough examination.

“The brand is still ironing out those steps. We’re not ready to announce who is going to be the face of AJ11 in this new space,” said Harvey. “But you have my word that the AJ11 will go into new spaces that we’ve never taken it.”

As 2026 begins, so will the early examples of Harvey’s new vision for the Air Jordan 11.

“When we do roll out something new around AJ11, we want to make sure we’re doing it the right way,” said Harvey. “We don’t want to force it into a conversation. We want to lead the charge and give the shoe a new vibe.”

Meantime, Harvey will balance the risk of introducing the Air Jordan 11 to new consumers with the need to satisfy longtime fans who consider the sneaker sacred.

“I know the pressure,” said Harvey. “Trust me, I don’t sleep much.” 

It’s pressure to deliver on the shoe that is both Michael Jordan’s personal favorite and Jordan Brand’s biggest commercial launch each holiday season.

“The future of AJ11 is going to push it into a new space,” said Harvey. “I’m constantly challenged.”

When courting constant challenges and delivering on the world’s biggest stage, fans have to ask: What’s more Jordan-esque than that?

The post How a youth movement is keeping the Air Jordan 11 as popular as ever appeared first on Andscape.