It's hard to find a Nike sneaker that divides opinions within the sneaker community as much as the Air Jordan 2. For some sneakerheads, the Air Jordan 2 is considered the "forgotten child" of the Air Jordan series.
After the groundbreaking success of the Air Jordan 1(which just came back in a Lost & Found colorway), Nike's designers Peter Moore and Bruce Kilgore wanted to break new ground and try something completely new - a Nike sneaker without a Swoosh. What many saw as a risk was, in the eyes of Moore and Kilgore, a clear opportunity to use Michael Jordan's media appeal and rethink the Air Jordan brand.
Thus, the Air Jordan 2 was released by Nike in November 1986 with a retail price of 100$ (cf. AJ1 1985: 65$) as an absolute premium product in which only high-quality materials, Italian leather for example, were used. Customers, on the other hand, took a while to warm up to the Air Jordan 2. The first release wasn't too much of a success - Michael Jordan, on the other hand, wore the "2" successfully: In his first game with the shoe, he scored 37 points, and shortly afterwards he won his first dunk contest.