Nike went in yet another new direction with the AJVIII and MJ and his shoe line received international exposure at the 92 Summer Olympics. He garnered even more attention for himself and Nike when he led the Bulls to a '3-Peat'in his Jordan VIIIs. The only Air Jordan that has ever and most likely will ever feature straps is the VIII; supposed to give more support and fit better this was a brand new design concept for the AJs. The lightweight Huarache-like upper was gone while the inner bootie remained and a color splash was added was added near the heel. Detail lovers need to take notice of the carpet surrounding the Jumpman logo on the tongue and '23' emblazoned on the strap plus they should recognize that this shoe was only produced in 3 colorways (one for the NBA season and one for the Olympics).
The Air Jordan IX was a departure from what had come before. Described by many as a 'moon boot' it was initially a hate it or love it shoe and of course it's controversial as the shoe that Michael himself never actually wore during his basketball playing days until his third and final comeback (in retro form). While the inner bootie was maintained there was also a new innovation when the designer added 'speed-lacing' laceloops to Air Jordans for the first time in their history so this model kept some comfort and created some convenience. Two style features were introduced: reflective speckles on the upper gave it some flash and a touch of foreign languages and a globe intermixed with the numbers '23' and '1994' added some class. Although the experimental moon boot design scared a few people off at the time it did feature a solid materials mix of leather, nubuck and mesh that kept in grounded in the basics.
