Michael Jordan’s signature shoes helped invent modern sneaker culture, and built the foundation of what is now a $7 billion annual business. ⁠ ⁠ This year, the designers behind Nike’s Jordan Brand were working on the milestone 40th sneaker in the line with commensurate expectations.⁠ ⁠ “You’re up against products that are regarded as some of the most well designed products in the history of industrial design,” the company’s vice president and chief design officer, Jason Mayden, explained. ⁠ ⁠ The classic Air Jordans are nearly universally beloved now, but MJ’s signature sneakers were once polarizing. In 1985, Nike made great marketing hay of the fact that the NBA had threatened to ban the black-and-red Air Jordan I. With each new signature model, Jordan Brand’s designers try to evoke that same feeling. “This product should be binary,” Mayden said. “You should either love it or not like it.”⁠ ⁠ Read more at the link in our bio.⁠ ⁠ Written by @samschube⁠ Photos: Jordan Brand, Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images