Union Los Angeles took to Instagram on Thursday (August 6, 2020) to reveal a three-shoe collaboration with Air Jordan. The three silhouettes are the Air Jordan 4, Zoom 92 and Air Jordan Delta Mid.
The collection of shoes is titled “Sophomore Album,” a reference to Union’s second launch with Jordan that was preceded by two very popular Air Jordan 1 sneakers launched in November 2018.
The most coveted silhouette will be the Air Jordan 4, which is offered in one of two colors: Off Noir (style code: DC9533-001) and Guava (style code: DC9533-800). The Guava color will be exclusive to Union.
Elaborating on the unusual fold-down tongue featured on the Retro 4 shoe, Union Los Angeles owner Chris Gibbs elaborated, “Back in the day, I had always liked to wear my IVs with a short tongue, so I would fold them over themselves and tie them down. So we decided to fold the tongue over and stitch it down with the same stitch pattern that we used on the 1s.”
“The good news here is that the stitch can be easily removed to reveal a normal tongue size if that’s your preference. Another fun detail is that with the tongue folded over the original “AIR JORDAN” interior branding now becomes external.”
The sneaker also includes an additional panel. Gibbs explained, “We edited the paneling of the shoes to create a slightly different shape to the shoe. You might not catch this at first, but when you compare our design to the OG AJ IVs, you can tell we added an extra panel.
“We did this for 2 reasons; first off, it created a dope toe vamp view when you look down… my favorite view is when you look right down at kicks; the ‘birds-eye view.’ Secondly, It allows for a more balanced ratio of mesh to suede, which is something I was trying to achieve as well.”
The collaborative effort will also include apparel, which hasn’t yet been revealed.
Pricing for the Jordan 4 is $250. The initial launch will take place on unionjordanla.com and select retailers on August 29th.