There aren’t a lot of fashion statements that stay relevant across four decades. The bottom fell out on Hammer Pants, overalls will never relive their Breakin’ 2 heyday, and it is blessedly unlikely that we will ever again see L.L. Bean take up an entire storefront.

But through it all, Air Jordans have remained at the forefront of their field, commanding high prices seemingly just by daring to ask the question “what if we put a little cartoon Michael Jordan on these?” How is it that a sneaker first introduced during the Reagan administration still tops the “Sort by Price: High to Low” tab in an age of Kanye West-brand footwear?

Because that’s what people are willing to pay, mostly. Despite a genius ad campaign in the ’80s that insinuated otherwise, there’s sadly no magic ingredient like love or Flubber in Jordans, secretly upping the wearer’s game. Michael doesn’t personally inspect each shoe and give it a kiss on its way out the door. Nike sells Jordans for hundreds of dollars because buyers agreed to pay that much.

Now, how they convinced us to do that is another story.

Be like Mike

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