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Object Timeline

1996

  • Work on this object began.

2002

  • We acquired this object.

2011

2013

2014

2022

  • You found it!

Drawing, Concept Design for Air Jordan XIII Sneaker

This is a drawing. It was designed by Tinker Hatfield and manufactured by Nike. It is dated 1996 and we acquired it in 2002. Its medium is black and color marking pens, turquoise, blue crayon on tracing paper. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Nike’s campaign for the Air Jordan line of sneakers, executed by Tinker Hatfield in collaboration with Michael Jordan, is an excellent example of branding: creating a brand image that sums up a product mythology. With the 13 different Air Jordan models that Hatfield created from 1981 through 1998, he pioneered a sneaker design language that catapulted the Nike/Jordan line from an ordinary product to a superbrand. The fluid, bulging, black and red honeycomb ornament of the Air Jordan XIII model plays on the image of Michael Jordan’s bulging muscles in his red Chicago Bull’s uniform.
While Cooper-Hewitt does not collect fashion or shoe design, we do collect drawings for corporate graphic design and logos. This is the most visually powerful example of the Nike drawings exhibited in the museum’s National Design Triennial in 2000. The Air Jordan XIII was part of a trendsetting product campaign and reflects the influence of Michael Jordan on American consumer culture.

This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled Building a Shoe.

This object was donated by Nike. It is credited Gift of Nike.

Our curators have highlighted 16 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Poster (USA)
  • offset lithograph on paper.
  • Gift of Various Donors.
  • 1981-29-416
  •

Its dimensions are

27.9 x 35.7 cm (11 in. x 14 1/16 in.) Mat: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.) Frame H x W x D: 39.7 x 50.2 x 2.5 cm (15 5/8 in. x 19 3/4 in. x 1 in.)

It is signed

Signed in pen and purple ink, in lower right quadrant: TINKER H———/8.22.96

It is inscribed

Inscribed in pen and purple ink, lower right quadrant: JORDAN 13/CONCEPT./TINKER H———/8.22.96; on velcro closure of upper view of sneaker: J23; in upper right quadrant, above sneaker: MIDFOOT/STRAP./SCHOËLLER/DYNATEC; in lower center: J GAS CUSHIONING; in lower left quadrant: CLEAR/RUBBER [with two arrows, one pointing to upper view of sneaker and one pointing to lower view of sneaker sole]; in upper left quadrant: SCULPTED/FOAM [arrow pointing right]/TPU/INJECTED/SYNTHETIC/SUADE (sic) [arrow pointing right]/COATED PHYLON [arrow pointing right].

Cite this object as

Drawing, Concept Design for Air Jordan XIII Sneaker; Designed by Tinker Hatfield (American, b. 1952); USA; black and color marking pens, turquoise, blue crayon on tracing paper; 27.9 x 35.7 cm (11 in. x 14 1/16 in.) Mat: 35.6 x 45.7 cm (14 x 18 in.) Frame H x W x D: 39.7 x 50.2 x 2.5 cm (15 5/8 in. x 19 3/4 in. x 1 in.); Gift of Nike; 2002-1-1

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-6.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18687041/ |title=Drawing, Concept Design for Air Jordan XIII Sneaker |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=29 September 2022 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>