Michael Jordan’s Air Jordan 1 Appears to Be Getting a Wear-Away Upper With a Pewter Exterior

The 40th anniversary of the Air Jordan 1 continues to pay dividends, as a new version of the sneaker has emerged with what appears to be a wear-away upper.

The Air Jordan 1 High “Self Expression” features a monochrome upper with sheen reminiscent of pewter. Along the edges of the paneling, though, you’ll find blue and red rising to the surface, suggesting that the colors will be revealed in full once the shoe has been subject to wear. A yellowed midsole then sits above a grey outsole.

A first look at the forthcoming sneaker has been revealed by the Instagram user @airandy2025, which doesn’t have much of a following and revealed the Air Jordan 1 in their first posts.

This forthcoming Air Jordan 1 follows in the lineage of Lance Mountain’s Nike SB x Air Jordan 1s from 2014. Available with either white or black uppers to begin with, the shoes were designed to be skated in. Once scuffed, the left and right shoes would reveal themselves to be carrying mismatched “Royal” and “Bred” colorways, respectively.

In 2019, another Nike SB collaboration on the Air Jordan 1 featured a Lakers purple and yellow upper that would give way to Bulss red, white and black under the name “LA to Chicago.” Mountain also got an Air Jordan 1 Low collaboration that year with a khaki upper hosting a “UNC” colorway underneath.

Wear-away uppers have been popular throughout the wider Nike umbrella, beginning with the Slam City SB Dunk Low in 2005.

The Air Jordan 1 High “Self Expression” doesn’t yet have a firm release date but is expected to release in the fall, likely through the Snkrs app and select third party retailers. Sizing will be available in men’s and grade school, with the former set at $180.