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Who Wore That? Nike Air Flight ‘89
OK class, we’re picking up from where we left off last week with our history lesson. A week ago, we filled you in on the backstory of the Nike Air Force 180. This week, the Nike Air Flight ’89 is in the lesson plan. Feel free to take notes, as this may be on the final.
Lesson One: Nike has always been known to take elements from its best and most popular shoes and implement them in other models. In this case, if you’ve seen the Air Jordan IV, take a second long look. The mid and outsole of the Air Flight ’89, matches the Air Jordan IV’s mid and outsole to a T. In actuality, the Flight ’89 was meant to be worn by Mr. Jordan himself, until a few tweaks were made by legendary shoe designer, Tinker Hatfield.
Lesson Two: While Jordan and his squad wore the Air Jordan IV, the rest of the league, especially Nike’s endorsed athletes, donned the Flight ’89. Players like Reggie Miller, Chris Mullin and even MJ’s running mate, Scottie Pippen, were seen on the court balling in these sneakers. For some of the best that the NBA had to offer during that era, the Flight ’89 was one of Nike’s best offerings, obviously good enough to keep aforementioned stars grounded.
Lesson Three: Released in 1989, the Flight ’89 was a special model most notably because it was the last that mirrored the silhouette of an Air Jordan sneaker. It was at this time that the Air Jordan brand became its own entity, forging a new path and wading in uncharted basketball sneaker waters. From this shoe alone was born number of signature shoes for stellar athletes around the NBA.
That concludes another week of “Who Wore That?”. So, if you don’t know, now you know. With the background we’ve given you, we’ll let that linger in your mind for a while, at least until next week, when we take on our next topic. Until then, class is dismissed.
