The Air Jordan 1 has a lot of iconic colorways and one of the most legendary ones is the UNC. The blue and white are university colors of the University of Carolina, Michael Jordan’s school. That history and association with MJ made it special and that’s why when Virgil Abloh announced that he was working on it, the hype world blew up.
The OFF WHITE Jordan 1 UNC features the same color blocking of the original UNC J1 with the deconstructed look of Virgil Abloh and a “major” functional upgrade. You have the exposed stitching, the exaggerated tongue with exposed foam, the loosely attached swoosh, the orange marker, and the “AIR” text on the midsole. One thing was visibly different from the OFF WHITE Jordan 1 Chicago and EU versions — the toe box had a protective layer on top of it. This change has made the sneaker so much more wearable because that exposed toe box was the biggest issue of the other two Jordan 1 collaborations with OFF WHITE.
The pair also came with three different lacing options: orange, UNC Blue (matching the leather upper), and white. If you want it subtle, you can go with the white or blue. If you want it to attract attention and go all hypebeast, the orange contrasted well with the shoe making it pop more.
So the big question now is if this pair is still worth buying in 2020? If you’re in the market for an OFF WHITE Jordan 1, the UNC is simply the most wearable. The Chicago and the EU (White) pairs break down easily and they’re better off as show pieces. So if you wanna but an OFF WHITE Jordan 1 that you can enjoy often, this is your best bet.
