Mystery Solved? Air Jordan XI Low "I.E." Name

[blco02]

And I agree with others, these need a proper retro. No elephant on the black pair and a translucent sole, not a smoke sole.

 

[Soul2Sole]

And I agree with others, these need a proper retro. No elephant on the black pair and a translucent sole, not a smoke sole.

winner winner!

 

[blco02]

Bumped since we know these are coming back next year. Lots of good info here.

 

[sodano748]

Had a pair of OG's when I was 16 and now have several 96's and every colorway since. Favorite Jordan ever.View media item 1389149

 

[sodano748]

And had to get my own "referee 11's" done.View media item 1389152

 

[KanyIZZY]

MIND BLOWN… THAT'S PROB THE ACTUAL REASON FOR I.E. LOL… THEY DEFINITELY NEVER RETORED THESE PROPERLY THOUGH.. THE BLACK SOLE AND THE GREY CEMENT ON THE BLACK PAIR WAS ALWAYS …I OWNED THE 2003 PAIR OUT OF NOSTALGIA BUT THEY WERE NEVER DONE RIGHT

 

[sodano748]

I agree, nothing like the og. They could have at least done the red carbon. Still my go-to sneaker.

 

[blco02]

Bumped to get the word out! Stop calling these "IE's"!

 

[sneaker savant]

I like the 'international exclusive' story you told...I find it real funny how NOBODY knows what IE is supposed to be.

Kinda makes me think of when your electric company misspells your name when you're signing up for service. No matter how many times you try to get that corrected you still see your name misspelled everywhere. Probably just some noob intern at the box label making factory typed 'I.E.' on accident and the name just stuck.  

 

[lmejia0023]

Rumor is the black and red are being retroed again this year. I hope they have the original clear bottom soles

 

[rapcoz2134]

IE = International Edition

 

[viruet]

The IE was not part of the name in the white OG ones it was part of the colorway. And if I'm not mistaken it stands for "Imprinted Elephant White"

 

[viruet]

The 1996 Air Jordan Low.

In my opinion, one of the most underrated Jordans ever. Back in 1996, I owned the Black/Red color way, and it was the most comfortable Nike basketball shoe I had worn up to that point.

The naming conventions of this shoe ad to the mystery. Some call them the Air Jordan XI Low I.E., but this I.E. was only on the White /Light Gray box.

View media item 595954
Adding even further to the confusion, some people misread the I.E. to be "L.E." and called them the limited editions.

In fact, these weren't even officially called the "Air Jordan XI Low" but just "Air Jordan Low".

Anyway, still to this day you see major sneaker news sites and collectors refer to these as the "Air Jordan XI Low I.E."

I have seen some heads correct people and say only the White/Grey were the I.E., but I think I might have finally cracked this mystery naming convention.



It wasn't in fact the name of the shoe at all but a typo on the adult Air Jordan box labels. The shoes name was just "Air Jordan Low" and the colorway was "I.E. White / Light Grey-Cobalt".

This was found by checking out the label for the original kids size version of the shoe. It is called the "Sky Jordan Low (BP)" and the colors are listed as I.E. White / Light Grey-Cobalt.

View media item 595953
Somehow in the editing of the label information for the adult white / grey, the I.E. got kicked up on the first line with the title of the shoe. This is why it doesn't exist on the Black/Red colorway labels at all.

No idea what "I.E. White" means as far as colors are concerned, but maybe someone can find some other Nike shoe with that color. It might actually refer to the texture of the material because it is textured and not smooth. I can't remember if the Black / Red version have a similar texture or not.

Maybe this has already been found out before, but I have never heard the true story myself and figured I would share my theory with anyone interested!

I believe it stands for "Imprinted Elephant White"

 

[rastakickz]

this is something that always boggled my mind,an i did come across a read once.. where it was said tinker didnt even really know the answer to this,but the "imprinted elephant  white" could be right, i always missed out on these back in the day but will be picking them up this time around, i like both colorways, but i notice a  difference in the black ones one with grey elephant print an one all black.much more prefer the black and grey on top pic,and shape.

 

[GL Rayner]

Yeah they were, I knew I wasnt trippin.


Pics from 1996



View media item 596357

I swear, everytime I see a pic of the OG's it makes me hopeful of a proper retro. My OG's need to have the sole reglued in certain parts, but I would really love a proper retro. Clear Sole's,Red&Black Carbon Fiber plate and red lining behind the tongue. JB, its not that difficult......

 

[sneaker savant]

'imprinted elephant'? interesting...

not that i don't believe you, but seems like if that's the name, why wouldn't 3's also be called 'imprinted elephant'? Pretty much the exact same material and texture... 

 

[custommarker]

IE = International Edition

Should be International Exclusive
as JB International General Manager Gentry Humphrey said, lol

 

[rainking]

Should be International Exclusive
as JB International General Manager Gentry Humphrey said, lol

That's not what it means. He pulled that out of his *** LOL