Jordan Brand 8x8: The Colors of Chicago
Graphic by Izzy Chun. Image via The Sports Fan Journal
The 2020 NBA All-Star Game proves to be one of the most socially symbolic and perspective-offering sporting events in recent memory.
Following the sudden deaths of Kobe and Gianna Bryant, along with seven other helicopter passengers, the game’s format has been drastically changed to honor the Lakers legend, paying homage to his forever impact on the game of basketball and the current generation of NBA stars. Moreover, held in Chicago – a mecca for basketball influence and shaper of the game’s culture – the event has further inspired a social celebration of local history, creativity and unity.
Image via Air Jordan
Enter Jordan – the Nike subsidiary with obvious Chicago ties – and its Chicago Collaborators Collection. Partnering with eight local creative institutions, the collection seeks to fuse fashion with hometown pride in the name of the movement’s declared mantra: UNITE. Each creative team was given a specific color to focus their designs around, one for each of the CTA train lines. While the entire Jordan 8x8 Collection is set to drop on February 15th, the eve of the All-Star Game, the designers have offered a tantalizing glimpse at their work, rendering our expectations incredibly high. As the man Air Jordan himself once said, “The ceiling is the roof.”
Blue Line – SocialWorks
Image via Nike
Celebrating the blue-collar Blue Line is Chance the Rapper’s SocialWorks, which “aims to empower youth through the arts, education and civil engagement.” Hosting annual clothing drives, museum days, open mics and more, SocialWorks – per Nike – chose its compass design to symbolize “the wisdom gained from a lifetime spent in the city… if you’ve walked these streets before, you no longer need a map.”
Brown Line – Drew The Barber
Image via Air Jordan
Image via Air Jordan
Drew The Barber, the owner of the famed No Cuts, No Glory barbershop in West Town, infused his Brown Line collection with historic flare. His design depicts old CTA fare tokens, which began circulating in the 1950s and were still abundantly in use during the Bulls-Jordan dynastic heydays.
Green Line – Jordan Wings Design Program
Image via Nike
Image via Nike
The Green Line designs come from Chicago’s future: four local students from four different Wings programs, the Jordan brand’s educational and community impact programs: Embarc, Enlace, Link Unlimited and Little Black Pearl. Inspired by the Green Line’s function and geography, including its ample connection points, its heavy traffic through the Loop and its prominence as the only transit option on the West Side, the apparel vividly communicates the theme of unification in a city too often systematically divided.
Orange Line – Cody Hudson
Image via Air Jordan
Multimedia artist Cody Hudson introduces the Orange Line with the perspective of symbiotic cityscapes and ultimate movement. Although he’s not originally from Chicago, he’s embraced the Windy City as his home and artistic foundation. Hudson’s affinity for geometric abstraction and pastel colors reflects the energy of both the 606 disposition and Orange Line itself, looping through the Loop to facilitate focused work ethic.
Pink Line – Lyrical Lemonade
Image via Nike
Cole Bennett and JB Brode’s Lyrical Lemonade has been dropping hit music videos and highlighting the Chicago hip-hop scene since 2013, becoming synonymous with up-and-coming clout and sound. Their Pink Line apparel features the brand’s signature lemonade carton along with ample splashes of color, perfectly fitting for their genre-blending atmosphere of cinematic achievement and talent celebration.
Purple Line – Sheila Rashid
Image via Air Jordan
Image via Air Jordan
Sheila Rashid is a true Chicagoan and proud member of the LGBTQ community. Presenting the Purple Line collection, her artistic renderings range from monochrome shoes to collage-based shirts, balancing color with landscape and place. True to her home, she roots the designs firmly in the vivid microcosm that is Chicago transit. Directly juxtaposing basketball and handwritten design elements, Rashid’s Purple Line graphics evade any one particular style, further demonstrating her unique approach to the aesthetic of process.
Red Line – Virgil Abloh
Image via Air Jordan
Image via Air Jordan
Perhaps the most prominent name in the Jordan Collaboration Collection, Virgil Abloh presents a sleek representation of Red Line culture with his fresh Off White X Jordan V shoes. Harkening back to the Jordan brand’s roots as eternally relevant basketball shoes, an epicenter for what it means to have style, Abloh prominently portrays MJ as the larger-than-life figure he is – a legend of Chicago and greater basketball lore. With his refined apparel, he lets the logos speak for themselves, inseparable from the narrative of the city. Much like the Red Line, the only line that spans both North and South sides of the city, Abloh’s designs are infused with a ubiquitous truth: the Chicago hustle on full display within CTA vehicles.
Yellow Line – SucceZZ
Image via Air Jordan
Image via Air Jordan
With their Yellow Line collection, cultural hub SucceZZ delivers vibrant styling to ensure that this All-Star Weekend, Chicago’s most forgotten transit line is anything but. Founded in 2008 by business veteran Lavelle Sykes and former NBA player (and Simeon High School product) Bobby Simmons, SucceZZ instills the notion of “No Place Like Home” with signature Chicago graffiti art and tags.