Air Jordan VIII Low – Black – Zest- Varsity Red | Unreleased Sample

The Air Jordan VIII was the last sneaker Michael Jordan wore before he hung up his jersey for the first time. The retirement was fueled by the death of his father combined with the belief that he had nothing else to prove as a professional basketball player, but returned anyway and won three more NBA Championships. The Air Jordan VIII finally re-released ten years after the original debut and again in 2007, with both waves including a funky-looking low-top version.

During the more recent re-issue, Jordan Brand released a women’s colorway of the low in a brown leather upper – one of the more forgettable Air Jordan releases ever. Here’s a look at a sample version of the women’s low-top Air Jordan VIII that was originally slated for a Spring 2008 release; it features a black upper that combines distressed leather, ostrich-skin leather, and nubuck, with red contrast stitching and a yellow/red/black mosaic print on the mudguard. We can imagine Mike Bibby breaking these out for the Finals, but this particular sample was obviously never released. Check out the detailed images below and let us know what you think of this latest Air Jordan scrapped sample. via Kenlu.