The UNDEFEATED Jordan 4s aren’t happening…

Rumours have started swelling about the possible release of the UNDFTD Jordan 4 ‘Olive’; first released in June 2005 after a Twitter post from sneaker insider and leaker @MrUnloved1s. However, he did follow-up the tweet stating “Before you ask something stupid like how I know, or how reliable am I, don’t”. 

Screenshot from Twitter.

Inspired by the classic A-1 Bomber Jacket, the sneaker featured a premium olive green nubuck material with a black lacing system and rubber ankle panel. Sitting atop an off white/black midsole, the UNDFTD AJ 4 provided wearability and simplicity. What really set the sneaker's colourway off was the orange detailing on the tongue and outsole of the shoe, making it instantly recognisable. 

The elusive sneakers are now reaching around $50,000 on reselling platforms after its initial release saw UNDEFEATED founders James Bond and Eddie Cruz raffling just 62 pairs (as confirmed by Bond on the ‘Finding Mastery’ podcast in 2016) which marked the first collaboration for the streetwear brand and the first collaboration, ever, from Jordan Brand.

With @MrUnloved1's track record of predicting previous releases, sneaker news outlets went crazy, and it didn’t take long for images of the shoe to spread across social media. 

Screenshot from Instagram.

While the rumours seem to have reached a boiling point over the past week, people have been speculating a possible re-release since 2018 when a sample pair of the Jordan 4s surfaced via @solesupremacy (Instagram) which sent the sneaker industry into a frenzy but was later debunked by @sneakerslut23 (Instagram), a sneaker enthusiast known for having a collection of highly limited releases, who posted further images of the unauthorised samples.

Screenshot from Instagram.

However, with no words from UNDEFEATED or Nike, the apprehension was in fact confirmed as @zSneakerHeadz (Instagram), another popular insider credited with most of the upcoming release leaks seen online, posted an image of the timeless sneaker with the caption “To clear up any rumours, the UNDFTD Jordan 4s are NOT releasing this year..”. 

Whether the rumours may be true in some sense, no smoke without fire, or not, the rumours may have been sparked from a more credible release later in the year in the form of the Air Jordan 4 ‘OIive Canvas’ (as posted by @zSneakerHeadz) which has already had the community clowning the shoe as a poor attempt at an UNDFTD 4, 2.0. 

 

Air Jordan 4 'Olive Canvas' Mockup by @zsneakerheadz.

While the upcoming ‘Olive Canvas’ looks to be an interesting release with some great scope, fans of one of the biggest grails of all time will still be hoping for a re-release of the UNDEFEATED Air Jordan 4. Whether it should be retroed however, is another question.