Matt Varga Many folks debut Jordan PEs every year. Few are able to attract the attention that Boyz II Men have with their Air Jordan 11 designs in recent weeks. After bringing out custom-built versions of the “Tuxedo” AJ11 for the MLB All-Star Game, their own personal history with the silhouette has been back in the conversation; is their red-carpet use of the model really based in truth? Is it just an urban legend we’ve all just come to accept?
Whether the tale stands up to interrogation, in which the R&B group’s suit pairing validated Michael Jordan’s side of an argument with Tinker Hatfield, is a question for another day. In this renewed sneakersphere relevance, Boyz II Men have certainly made the most of the opportunity, trotting out behind-the-scenes looks at the sampling process and how they pared their options down to the ones they wore in Philadelphia.
For a quick refresher, the group ended up going with a black-on-white version, almost akin to the 2013 Low of the same name, with similar icy trim running throughout. In photos that followed, we saw that, even as eye-catching as their game-worn editions are, Jordan Brand had put several truly unprecedented choices on the table.
Here, we get a closer look at some of those hypothetical choices: molded “sound wave” textures, experimentation on the collars that added polka dot and flannel prints, and various color-blocking changes that still stayed within the realm of black and white. Of course, the most personal detail was intact throughout the full range: changing the sideways JUMPMAN text to read “BOYZ II MEN” instead.
Any diehard fans of the group, or anyone interested in witnessing what it’s like to unwrap your own handcrafted samples, can catch the full BTS spot below.
