Jordan announces legacy collections set to be released in Spring 2016

Jordan Brand has announced that it will release three new retro collections in the spring of 2016. Jordan is dubbing the new sets of kicks as “soaring moments of greatness” in Michael Jordan's legendary career. Sneaker fans may simply call them a boon of new retro releases. Either way, the new shoes are all set to the theme of soaring.

Jordan Brand has announced that it will release three new retro collections in the spring of 2016. Jordan is dubbing the new sets of kicks as “soaring moments of greatness” in Michael Jordan's legendary career. Sneaker fans may simply call them a boon of new retro releases. Either way, the new shoes are all set to the theme of soaring.

In typical Jordan Brand fashion of giving fans ample time before releasing new products, the Nike subsidiary announced a total of eight new shoe releases. Although the new sets are planned for next year, that doesn’t mean we can’t take a look at what's coming now.

Jordan created collections based off its namesake’s career highs with the three legacy shoe collections. And to get things started right, the Poster Collection features the Air Jordan II and Air Jordan XII.

Poster Collection / Courtesy of Jordan Brand

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The Alternate Collection goes three deep. The first player to break the mold and wear an on-court color the way MJ did has the brand rolling out three retro silhouettes based on colors from Chicago. The Air Jordan II, Air Jordan IV and Air Jordan V all go black, red and white.

The second AJII in this Legacy Collection includes the bold heel color blocking, the singular netting from the AJIV and who doesn’t love the toggle on the AJV?

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The final three in the package, the Dunk From Above Collection, allow designers to reimagine the Air Jordan IV yet again, this time giving the net-loving shoe that was first to introduce the word “Flight” on a sneaker, in midnight navy with metallic gold. The second iteration of the AJV in this collection goes low in the metallic gold accents and an ice-colored outsole. The third shoe in the Dunk From Above Collection gives us the first-ever shoe to include the Wings logo, the Air Jordan 1 Nouveau, this time in a flat leather finish and a color-shifting Nike Swoosh inspired by aviator goggles.

Tim Newcomb covers stadiums, design and gear for Sports Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.​