How "Bred" Became the Most Popular Sneaker Colorway

When Nike inked Michael Jordan to a signature shoe deal, “bread” was more closely related to sandwiches than sneakers. Before the word “Bred” became ingrained into popular culture vernacular, it was the first colorway of Michael’s first signature shoe, the Air Jordan 1.

But the black and red color combination had a bit of an auspicious beginning. In 1984, players weren’t allowed to wear sneakers that didn’t contain at least 51% white in their design. Players were also expected to wear sneakers in colors that matched their teammates’ sneakers, too. The black and red Nike Air Ship that Jordan wore as a placeholder until his Air Jordan 1 was ready for production did neither. Hardly amused, the NBA levied a stiff $5,000 fine every time Michael wore either the Nike Air Ship or Air Jordan 1 “Bred” in a game.

Both were viewed as “outlaw” sneakers. At least that’s how the NBA portrayed things. Impressionable basketball fans who were enamored with the league’s most gifted new athlete saw it differently. As did Nike, who picked up on the perceived “coolness” of a shoe that wasn’t allowed to be worn because of its bold color block, and built an entire “Banned” ad campaign around the Air Jordan 1 “Bred.” Despite Nike’s revisionist history for the sake of marketing, Jordan never actually wore the Air Jordan 1 “Bred” in a game—he wore the “Chicago” and “Black Toe” colorways once the shoe was ready for him near the end of 1984 on. But he did wear the “Banned” or “Bred” colorway during the 1985 Slam Dunk contest, which further helped it become the hottest attraction in footwear.

It wouldn’t be the last time that a “Bred” Air Jordan would hold that title, either.

With the Air Jordan 4—and Air Jordan 11 and so on—Nike adhered to the NBA’s strict uniform policy and incorporated more white into the black and red colorway. The Air Jordan 4 “Bred” and Air Jordan 11 “Bred” were no less desirable as a result. In fact, many longtime sneaker collectors tell a similar story of how the Air Jordan 11 “Bred” quickly disappeared from sneaker store shelves after its release in 1996. You could say that it was the first Air Jordan model to “sell out” before the term became en vogue.

While the Air Jordan 4 and Air Jordan 11 both garnered the official “Bred” nickname, pretty much every single Air Jordan since the Jordan 3 has had some interpretation of a black-and-red, Bulls-centric color scheme that served as the “road” edition of the signature model. (The Air Jordan 2 actually only originally released in white-based colorways.) For example, the Air Jordan 6 “Black/Infrared” and Air Jordan 7 “Raptor” are the “Bred” colorways for those respective models.

If you go back through the Air Jordan lineage, the black-based-with-red-accents colorway is consistently one of the most beloved of every model. The simple fact is, many of us prefer black sneakers over white ones. They hide dirt, they look sleeker. These original black-and-red Air Jordans became insanely popular and iconic by default.

More recently, tributes to the “Bred” colorway have popped up. The Nike Air Max 1 “Bred,” Nike SB Dunk High “Bred,” and Nike Dunk Low “J-Pack – Bred” are all a continuation of the black and red combination on different silhouettes. In 2015, Supreme coaxed Jordan Brand into giving us the first official Air Jordan 5 “Bred” as part of the streetwear brand’s debut collaboration with Michael’s signature series.

A reveal into just how powerful the “Bred” colorway had become occurred in 2017. The adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 “Bred,” created by another dynamic Chicago personality in Kanye West, became one of the most sought after Yeezys that year. And it’s still one of the most valuable colorways of the 350 V2 today. This proved that a black-and-red sneaker didn’t have to be from Jordan or Nike to still be hot.

Looking back, the more scoring titles, slam dunks, and championships that Michael racked up, the more his Air Jordans were viewed in the public eye. Then and now, people associate black and red shoes with Air Jordans because that’s what the Bulls’ team uniforms dictated. “Bred” was the default color scheme of Air Jordans. And as we’ve seen, it would become the de-facto color block of desirable shoes across the entire sneaker community.

Of course, this all raises an interesting question: What if the Bulls didn’t draft Michael Jordan? Would we all love green and yellow sneakers today if MJ played for the Seattle Sonics? Blue and orange if he played for the Knicks? It seems like a fortunate twist of fate that he went to Chicago and the ultimately versatile and always attractive “Bred” look became the most popular sneaker colorway of all time.