An Original Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 Sample Surfaces

The Undefeated x Air Jordan 4, one of the rarest sneaker releases and the first-ever Air Jordan collaboration, is coming back this week. As the story of the design goes, the project references MA-1 flight jackets. But as it turns out, the olive and orange color scheme wasn’t the boutique’s only concept.

In an interview with Complex’s Matt Welty, Undefeated co-founder James Bond revealed that a version of the original 2005 Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 was a blue-based colorway inspired by the BlackBerry phone. Welty then asked about the ongoing rumors surrounding the collaboration and the coveted “Encore” Eminem x Air Jordan 4, in which Slim Shady supposedly saw the blue Undefeated Jordan 4 samples during a visit to Nike’s World Headquarters in Portland, OR, and turned them into his own colorway.

“I think there have been so many variations that have been sitting around, and I think when we’re in Portland, we see something on someone’s desk, we say, ‘Yo that’s dope. What is that? Can we do that?’ And I think throughout a back-and-forth and different samplings, I think things come to life,” James Bond said.

Sneaker collector @mc1snkrs on Instagram also shared a closer look at what’s believed to be the original sample of the Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 shown above. The version features a blue nubuck upper paired with a grey heel tab and black tabs on the sides.

Unlike the original Undefeated x Air Jordan 4s, the latest retro is expected to be more widely available when it releases on Aug. 2 at Undefeated.com for $230.