- 39
- 44
- Joined
- Sep 5, 2013
The 1996 Air Jordan Low.
In my opinion, one of the most underrated Jordans ever. Back in 1996, I owned the Black/Red color way, and it was the most comfortable Nike basketball shoe I had worn up to that point.
The naming conventions of this shoe ad to the mystery. Some call them the Air Jordan XI Low I.E., but this I.E. was only on the White /Light Gray box.
View media item 595954
Adding even further to the confusion, some people misread the I.E. to be "L.E." and called them the limited editions.
In fact, these weren't even officially called the "Air Jordan XI Low" but just "Air Jordan Low".
Anyway, still to this day you see major sneaker news sites and collectors refer to these as the "Air Jordan XI Low I.E."
I have seen some heads correct people and say only the White/Grey were the I.E., but I think I might have finally cracked this mystery naming convention.
It wasn't in fact the name of the shoe at all but a typo on the adult Air Jordan box labels. The shoes name was just "Air Jordan Low" and the colorway was "I.E. White / Light Grey-Cobalt".
This was found by checking out the label for the original kids size version of the shoe. It is called the "Sky Jordan Low (BP)" and the colors are listed as I.E. White / Light Grey-Cobalt.
View media item 595953
Somehow in the editing of the label information for the adult white / grey, the I.E. got kicked up on the first line with the title of the shoe. This is why it doesn't exist on the Black/Red colorway labels at all.
No idea what "I.E. White" means as far as colors are concerned, but maybe someone can find some other Nike shoe with that color. It might actually refer to the texture of the material because it is textured and not smooth. I can't remember if the Black / Red version have a similar texture or not.
Maybe this has already been found out before, but I have never heard the true story myself and figured I would share my theory with anyone interested!
In my opinion, one of the most underrated Jordans ever. Back in 1996, I owned the Black/Red color way, and it was the most comfortable Nike basketball shoe I had worn up to that point.
The naming conventions of this shoe ad to the mystery. Some call them the Air Jordan XI Low I.E., but this I.E. was only on the White /Light Gray box.
View media item 595954
Adding even further to the confusion, some people misread the I.E. to be "L.E." and called them the limited editions.
In fact, these weren't even officially called the "Air Jordan XI Low" but just "Air Jordan Low".
Anyway, still to this day you see major sneaker news sites and collectors refer to these as the "Air Jordan XI Low I.E."
I have seen some heads correct people and say only the White/Grey were the I.E., but I think I might have finally cracked this mystery naming convention.
It wasn't in fact the name of the shoe at all but a typo on the adult Air Jordan box labels. The shoes name was just "Air Jordan Low" and the colorway was "I.E. White / Light Grey-Cobalt".
This was found by checking out the label for the original kids size version of the shoe. It is called the "Sky Jordan Low (BP)" and the colors are listed as I.E. White / Light Grey-Cobalt.
View media item 595953
Somehow in the editing of the label information for the adult white / grey, the I.E. got kicked up on the first line with the title of the shoe. This is why it doesn't exist on the Black/Red colorway labels at all.
No idea what "I.E. White" means as far as colors are concerned, but maybe someone can find some other Nike shoe with that color. It might actually refer to the texture of the material because it is textured and not smooth. I can't remember if the Black / Red version have a similar texture or not.
Maybe this has already been found out before, but I have never heard the true story myself and figured I would share my theory with anyone interested!
Last edited:
