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Air Jordan 36: the sole with a hole in it

Look under the midfoot of an Air Jordan 36 and material is missing. Between the midsole and the outsole there’s an open cutout, a window you can see straight through to the stability plate underneath. That’s not a design gimmick but a weight issue: Jordan Brand hollowed out the plate to shave off as many grams as possible.

The same idea is in the upper. Where earlier Jordans relied on leather and layered panels, the 36 uses a finely woven mesh so open it almost appears translucent. The material weighs significantly less than what the Air Jordan 34 used, and it shows: this is one of the lightest shoes the line has produced.

Underfoot the opposite happened. There’s a full-length Zoom Air layer, with an additional separate unit in the forefoot. More Zoom Air than in any previous Jordan signature shoe, in a shoe that simultaneously weighs less: that’s the whole concept in one sentence. At the back there are two large pull tabs to get the foot in.

Note the labels in the titles, because they mean something. Versions marked PE are Player Exclusive, made for one player and not intended for retail. Versions marked PF have a thicker outsole for outdoor courts. And the Roman XXXVI means the same as 36: both spellings are used interchangeably here.

Within the series, the 36 sits between the Air Jordan 35 and the Air Jordan 37, which continue the hollowed-out plate idea.

On this page you can see which versions of the Air Jordan 36 are hottest now according to the Hypescore, from what price they can be found and in how many shops they are in stock.