Jumpman 23 Updates Air Jordan 1

We’ve seen a lot of variations of the Jordan 1 including new colorways and the recent use of premium leathers, but we haven’t really seen new tech aside from Flyweave…until now. Jordan Brand dressed the entire upper with Flyknit making it lighter, flexible and breathable, which boils down to a huge increase in comfort – something this iconic silhouette has been lacking.

If we’re specifically talking about GS pairs (small footer, here), they’ve NEVER been comfortable except for the 2017 Royal 1 which was a step up. Typically, the leather is stiff and the shape is off, but after receiving the Flyknit 1 I immediately noticed two things:

• How lightweight they felt in-hand
• The sole mold and ankle height of the high top took on the shape of the men’s Jordan 1

As soon as I slipped them on, the comfort was there, from the Flyknit upper to the padded insole and leather detailing on the tongue and inner lining. The men’s version includes a zoom air unit in the heel as opposed to a standard air unit and I’m not mad that the GS version doesn’t include this feature. I’m just happy it has the other aforementioned updates and is seriously cozy.

I’ll admit the shape of the sole and ankle height have nothing to do with comfort, but shape is important to me and most sneakers just look better in men’s/women’s pairs versus kids’.

Bottom line: Would I buy another pair if more colorways released? Probably not. I’d be more inclined to buy a Jordan 1 that uses the same updated tooling with better leather on the upper instead of Flyknit. Say, the Shadow Grey 1 that’s dropping in 2018. That’d be an instacop, no question. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.