Tuesday, Jun 28, 2016

In an ultimate swish for basketball fans and sneakerheads in the UAE, Nike is all set to open the country’s first — and one of a few in the world — Jordan-only store on June 30 in The Dubai Mall.

Jordan, created in association with the iconic sportsman Michael Jordan, was initially known for its shoes but has evolved into a successful lifestyle brand. It’s known for its unique ‘Jumpman’ logo, a silhouette of Jordan performing a slam dunk.

The Dubai store will be the first in the Middle East and only the fourth in the world after Hong Kong, New York and the original store in Chicago, the home of Jordan’s team Chicago Bulls. Nike representatives said they were planning a number of activities around the UAE opening, including competitions and ‘activations’ at the Ice Rink, as well as shoe and T-shirt customisations and exclusive releases for fans.

The first Air Jordan I was released in 1985, pegged to Jordan’s success as a basketball player, but the brand quickly grew in stature as Nike began exploiting the sneakerhead phenomenon and a cult following began to develop. Some retro models are now valued as high as $5,000 (Dh18,360).

Emirati shoe collector Rashid Al Amiri says Air Jordans are a big deal because they are the “go-to shoes”.

“If you want to start a collection, you can’t start without having an Air Jordan,” he says.

Al Amiri, an Abu Dhabi-based lawyer, currently has more than 400 shoes in his collection, including a Nike Mag sneaker now valued between Dh10,000 to Dh20,000.

“The appeal of Air Jordan is that a lot of us have memories associated with it. For instance, one of the most popular models is the Air Jordan XI. A lot of people remember watching Michael Jordan wearing it on court and in the movie Space Jam,” he says.

“For someone like me, they are shoes that I grew up wanting as a child but you couldn’t afford them. Now I’ve got the capital to buy some them. Another thing is that buying Air Jordans is like buying a piece of history, and also a bit of Michael.”

Al Amiri, 26, is a regular at Sole DXB, the UAE’s annual sneaker and street culture event that continues to grow in size and stature, bringing together sneakerheads from across the region.

The Jordan brand is a big hit for Nike, taking in more than $2.6 billion in 2014, according to SportScanInfo. The brand commanded 58 per cent market share of the $4.2 billion US basketball shoe market that year, says Forbes, with the international business bringing in $1 billion.

What will make the Dubai store stand out for sneakerheads will be the exclusives, says shoe collector Al Amiri.

“Jordan products are already widely available, and also accessible online. It will be the rare pairs or the Dubai special pairs that will make the store really cool,” he says.

For more on the Jordan brand, go to nike.com/Jordan

By David Tusing, Deputy tabloid! Editor

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