Jordan 5 Retro SE

This eye-catching Jordan 5 Retro SE pays homage to some of the most popular colorways from the silhouette’s history in celebration of its 30th anniversary. It does so by bringing together stand out design elements from each one to create a unique pair of sneakers nicknamed What The. To ensure that enough previous sneakers could be honored, the left and right shoes are vastly different. This includes on the outsole, whose translucent herringbone sections below the forefoot and heel are luminous green on the left foot, as a reference to the Quai 54 colorway, and only lightly tinted white on the right. The opaque areas on the toe and midfoot are then black on the former and a pale Ghost Green on the latter, though each is united by its use of a large Jumpman behind the see-through forefoot piece in typical AJ5 fashion.

On the midsole, while both have a clear window in the heel to reveal the bouncy Air cushioning inside, each shoe has its own coloration once again, the right foot decorated largely Court Purple and the left mostly black. The exception to this main color on each is the shark teeth on the sides of the forefoot as those on the right shoe are blue with Ghost Green speckles, which recalls the Bel Air colorway, and those on the left are silver with flecks of black. On the upper, another distinctive difference occurs as, though both employ fine suede as the material, the right foot is coated in a pleasant yellow known as Varsity Maize from the rare Tokyo colorway, and the left takes on the red of the famous Raging Bull.

Both shoes feature a white semi-translucent mesh on the quarter panels and the lower part of the tongue, providing breathability across the foot. However, the TPU molded eyelets are gray on the right foot and black on the left. The pair is unified again in its use of black laces and silver reflective material on the top part of the tongue, before the Jumpman branding displayed there returns them to a state of contrast – the right one Solar Orange, the left lime green. Each of these tones is repeated on the back of the respective tongue, both on its padded exterior and on the Air Jordan lettering adorning the white patch sewn into it.

While the insoles are both black and host a silver Jumpman, the inner walls are coated in a soft fabric each with its own individually eccentric design. That on the left brings back the dynamic neon tones of the Alternate Bel-Air, with fluorescent blues, pinks, purples and greens, while that on the right has a more earthy look borrowed from the Laser colorway, with its floral shades of brown, orange, cream and teal.

Back on the outer, the lace locks are both contained within a clear housing, but the central toggle on the left shoe is lime green and the one on the right is black. The bulging foam that runs slightly higher on the medial side of the collar than the left remains on each shoe, providing added protection to the ankles, and below this, each sneaker has a different emblem on its lateral heel. On the left foot, the intricately woven insignia from the Shanghai colorway appears, while on the right, the stylistic badge from the Tokyo edition can be seen. Then, on the very back of the sneaker, the left and right feet are aesthetically joined together one final time as each has a black Jumpman embroidered into the center of its heel counter.