Straight out of a silent film! – Air Jordan 4 Greyscale

Forget 4K or HD viewing, for our latest concept, we are taking it back to the days of black and white TVs and silent films. Using the Air Jordan 4 once again as our canvas, we have decked it out this time exclusively in white, black, and grey for a greyscale colorway. Check out our finished concept above and read more about our thought process behind it below.  

The sneaker’s upper comes in a dark grey leather base, with a white leather panel on top that circles around the bottom of the upper, and a black leather mudguard at the toe. Black accenting is also present on the tongue tag, lining, netting, and the wings on either side of the shoes, whilst white accents are present behind the netting, on the laces, and on the tongue. The tongue’s lining comes in grey, as well as the crown eyelets, which are also given a metallic silver finish. The upper is then paired with a matching sole, that comes in a white and dark grey midsole, and an all-white outsole. 

The first thing that stands out when you look at our concept is that it sticks completely to white, grey, and black, hence its name, rather than adding any color to the shoe. Whilst color is great and we usually love to spice things up with bright pinks and yellows, and everything in between, there is something nice and reassuring to return to a simpler greyscale colorway. In a way, it makes the shoe neutral, of any sports team correlations or particular styles of fashion. Our concept would be the perfect everyday shoe when you just want to chuck something on. But even though there are no brightly colored accents on the shoes, by splitting the different overlays up in black, white, and grey, each detail of the shoe can stand out and contrast with each other. In doing so, we are preventing the model’s iconic design from getting lost in the colorway, but rather letting it be amplified by it. 

The benefit of keeping our concept in white, black, and grey is that it would work with practically any outfit. Rather than for example, hits of orange preventing you from wearing your shoes with your dark blue T-shirt for fear of the two clashing and looking weird, our concept would be amazingly easy to match with. And the nature of the Air Jordan 4, as a luxury sports shoe that has become accepted as a lifestyle shoe, means that it would work well alongside sporty, casual, or even semi-formal attire.