Air Jordan 15 Gets New Build That Could Increase Favor

The Air Jordan 15 is the most widely hated sneaker within the series, and Tinker Hatfield even cited it as his worst design in the franchise. A slight new build, however, could have an outsized effect on its reception with a release this month.

The Air Jordan 15-23RE “Black/Muslin” debuts a revision doing away with the protruding tongue and featuring a more traditional inner-bootie to hug the ankle. Raw edges also appear at the opening of the woven Kevlar panels, but the design otherwise remains unchanged. Black and off-white Muslin colorblocking essentially splits the shoe into two halfs, with the latter used for the Kevlar, tongue and collar and the latter for the leather mudguard, heel and sole unit.

This month’s release will mark the first for an Air Jordan 15 since Billie Eilish collaborated on the model in 2021. The singer has called the sneaker her favorite of all-time dating back to her childhood, proving there are still some fans for the black sheep of the Air Jordan family.

Later this year, Public School will also release an Air Jordan 15 collaboration retaining the pointed tongue.

Launched in 1999, the Air Jordan 15 was the first model to land after Michael Jordan‘s second retirement and was the first in the series to never be worn by him on an NBA court. Its woven Kevlar elements were inspired by the X-15 fighter jet, which remains the fastest aircraft ever built, and the tongue itself was modeled after Jordan’s habit of sticking his own out while playing.

Hatfield would take a hiatus from designing for the line after the Air Jordan 15, eventually returning for the Air Jordan 20. In the Netflix series “Abstract,” he said he was becoming burnt out at the time and was dealing with the passing of his father and friend and Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman.

Later, he was asked by TMZ to name his worst Air Jordan design and said of the 15: “I just don’t think I brought that baby home quite right. All concepts are worthless if you don’t follow through and execute and I think I was literally worn out at that point in time.”

The Air Jordan Air Jordan 15-23RE Black/Muslin will release Saturday, although it’s still yet to appear on the Snkrs app. Pricing is set at $240.