The Air Jordan collaboration scene is crowded. For as selective as the Jumpman can be when it comes to partners, the brand has built up one hell of a roster over the last two decades. Jordan collaborators have offered countless takes on some of the most iconic sneaker silhouettes of all time, and when a new one launches it inevitably gets compared to the entirety of what came before it. Sure, that new Jordan 4 collab is nice, but is it as good as the one that dropped last year? How does it stack up to the Undefeated 4s or the OG White Cements? More than any sneaker brand, Jordan’s history is front-facing. It’s the whole appeal of the brand—the legacy and the lore and the capital-M moments. Great collaborators rise to the occasion. They welcome the comparisons and aim to establish themselves as part of the same story.
That’s what Awake NY did last year when they first jammed with Jordan Brand on the Nike Air Ship. The brainchild of former Supreme brand director Angelo Baque, over the past several years the label has become a major player in New York’s streetwear scene, dropping killer seasonal collections and partnering with a murderer’s row of the biggest brands in fashion, including Levi’s, Carhartt, and Moncler. The brand’s snakeskin-tinged Air Ship—the silhouette Michael Jordan wore before the Air Jordan 1—made instant waves. The partnership clearly tapped into something special, prompting sneakerheads to eagerly await Awake’s first proper Air Jordan release.
That wait is over. This week, the Awake NY x Air Jordan 5 drops in two bombastic colorways. The more restrained of the two features a sleek black upper accented with royal blue. On the far less subtle end, there’s an eye-grabbing hot pink version with sharp red detailing. Each shoe features showy branding, with Awake’s ‘A’ logo emblazoned across the outside of the uppers of both pairs, alongside embroidered ‘NY’ and ‘23’ hits on the heels. The shoes also feature a unique hybrid Jordan/Awake logo across the tongues, perhaps a show of faith from Jordan in the potential of the partnership (they don’t let just anyone mess with the Jumpman).