It's 1985. Nike is hoping to finally get a foot into the world of basketball. They're gearing up for a new release of basketball boots that 21-year-old rookie Michael Jordan wears during a pre-season match for the Chicago Bulls. The National Basketball Association then tries to ban the trainers on the basis that they break the league’s rule stipulating that players must wear shoes that are either 51% black or 51% white.


In the tenth episode of Torn, Gus Casely-Hayford tells the story of how Nike’s response kickstarts a revolution in trainers that turns a simple sports shoe into one of the most covetable fashion items of all time. Jordan saw his sponsorship deal with Nike morph into a multi-billion-dollar business making him the richest athlete of all time.


Casely-Hayford finds that from the early noughties, the lines between fashion and sportswear blurred further. Enter some of the world's most renowned fashion designers. Designer Air Jordans regularly adorn the feet of celebrities from rappers Drake and A$AP Rocky, to the supermodel Naomi Campbell and tennis star Roger Federer. But Air Jordans have a dark side that have spurred riots, robberies, and even murders committed by those desperate to get their feet in a pair.
With the curator Ligaya Salazar and the artist David White.

A Novel production for BBC Radio 4
Presenter: Gus Casely-Hayford
Executive Producer: Rosie Collyer
Assistant Producer: Nadia Mehdi
Researcher: Zeyana Yussuf
Production Coordinator: Francesca Taylor
Sound Design: Rob Speight Show less