Air Jordans As Artifacts: The Unseen Objects From Michael Jordan’s Collection

My first recollection is of the Air Jordan 11, which became a legend of its own when Jordan wore a black with black patent-leather pair in Space Jam in 1996. That unreleased version—later known as the “Space Jam 11”—blurred the line between ingenuity and cinema. What began as an on-court innovation became a cultural artifact, representing Jordan’s return, his myth-making power, and another moment when sneakers transcended sport to become symbols of style and storytelling. 

These very sneakers appear on page 94 of the new Air Jordan book—an artifact within an artifact—published by Assouline in both Ultimate and Classic formats. The Ultimate edition, limited to just 1,000 hand-numbered copies, includes a scarf that invites both reader and wearer to carry the same spirit embodied by Jordan. Both editions feature a never-before-published photograph of Jordan by Annie Leibovitz, breathing new life into the mirrored image of a symbol that has inspired generations.

“I met Michael in person and photographed him in Chicago on March 31st 1998… I would never have dreamed to get as close and personal with him as I did this time… I could have photographed Michael Jordan’s “Holy Grail”  personal belongings for weeks and weeks” - Henry Leutwyler.

The book includes a handful of photographs by Henry Leutwyler—whose body of work includes portraits of First Lady Michelle Obama, Steven Spielberg, Michael Fassbender, and Toni Morrison—of objects that were secured from Jordan’s personal archive. Leutwyler’s work is widely celebrated; his 2008 New York magazine cover was named by The New York Times as one of the twenty-five most influential magazine covers of all time. His work honors the intimacy of relics and the aura of those who once held them. The Air Jordan book is no exception, as it offers glimpses into the 80s and 90s—sketches of a brand and a legend—through never-before-seen visuals, untold stories, and portraits of other icons who define greatness on and off the court. Photographs such as a “perfect attendance” certificate dated May 3, 1970; a shot of Michael Jordan’s six rings arranged in chronological order; and a graduation cap and tassel from the University of North Carolina, where he left as a junior only to return and graduate in 1986 sit within its pages. They reveal the humanity that lives between the esoteric and the eternal. Over the course of seeing this project come to life from the Assouline side, I’ve thought about this never-ending thread, which continues to seamlessly extend into a sort of memorial, as in I began to remember the year my son was born and his first infant sneakers—a coming of age—were the Air Jordan 11 in Legend Blue (which were released that same December). 

What if the sneakers are the artifacts themselves? Something that exists not only in between my son and me, but within a culture, a world, and a society reshaped by a man and them.

As Adam Bradley continues in the introduction: “You can draw a straight line from this certificate (a piece of his private history)—and the others he earned during his school years—to some of his most public trials and triumphs.” These lines have stretched generously across time, connecting so many through a brand and now this book—reminding us that greatness is often not what can be explained, but what can only be worn, read, archived and experienced.