Environmental Air Jordans
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
Nike’s 23rd version of its venerable Air Jordan basketball shoe comes in Michael Jordan’s staple black, red and white uniform colors but with a new, underlying hue: green.
Nike says the Air Jordan XX3 is its first premium product designed according to the company’s sustainable standards. The world’s largest athletic-wear maker, based near Beaverton, says it changed how the shoe was designed and manufactured to reduce waste, use more environmentally friendly materials and eliminate solvent-based glues.
Industry insiders and designers lauded Nike for elevating sustainability goals to its most famous product. But they note that many of Nike’s efforts to limit the shoe’s impact on the environment are more baby steps than soaring, Jordanesque innovations. A shoe made without glue, in the face of all the other things that contribute to global warming and it’s a step in the right direction. It’s going to take large, huge-profile companies to ultimately make a difference.
Nike executives said they faced a big challenge balancing the shoe’s performance demands with sustainability goals. They said they had to ensure that its contents and design would withstand the pounding that pro player-endorsers such as New Orleans point guard Chris Paul and Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen will give the shoe when running, stopping and jumping. They said they also grappled with a limited pool of vendors who make materials that meet Nike’s sustainability standards.
Perhaps as difficult is the business context that the shoe enters. The footwear industry saw 2007 holiday season sales decline from the previous year. Basketball shoes, especially, are taking a beating. Even amid that downturn, Nike has stolen market share from rival shoemakers.
Nike also is touting the shoe’s 23rd iteration, noting that it echoes Jordan’s first jersey number.
In a departure from previous rollouts, Nike will release a limited edition of the shoe to 23 U.S. retailers Jan. 25. The $230 price tag is the highest ever for an Air Jordan, Humphrey said. Larger releases on Feb. 16 and 23, pegged around the NBA All-Star game, will be priced at $185.
The sustainability efforts drove up the shoe’s costs by 25 percent more than past Air Jordans and “really played a big point in where we ended up (with) pricing,” said Gentry Humphrey, director of Brand Jordan Footwear. Yet Humphrey conceded that the shoe’s greener attributes won’t necessarily sway its core customers — collectors, athletes and urban teens — to buy it.
(Source: The Oregonian Jan. 2008)
I love Stuart Weitzman shoes. His shoes are usually sexy and glamorous. These patent flats, also with a bow come in brown or black. 
Patent leather trims a quilted calfskin mary jane, designed with a fully padded sock liner, ultimate Nike Air cushioning and a lightweight rubber nub sole. Leather upper and lining/rubber sole.
