Michael Jordan’s reign was just beginning after the Chicago Bulls picked up their first championship at the end of the 1990-1991 basketball season. At this point in his career, Jordan was already the most iconic player on earth and if he never won another NBA championship, he’d still have gone down in history as an NBA great.
But being a great player wouldn’t be enough for Jordan. He had to be the best.
The 91-92 NBA basketball season saw Jordan bring home MVP designation for the season and finals, a second consecutive NBA championship, and a gold medal from the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. And he achieved all of that while rocking the newest sneaker in the Jordan lineage, the Air Jordan VII.
The Jordan VII saw Tinker Hatfield (the sneaker’s designer) and Michael Jordan coming into their own. Gone are the familiar Nike touchstones of old — there is no Nike branding, no visible air unit, and the silhouette itself was less indebted to the past, instead being inspired by Hatfield’s own Nike Huarache, giving the sneaker a neoprene bootie design which helped it to be lightweight and flexible.
The way Nike would market this sneaker would also represent a shift. Previous sneakers had Spike Lee assisted ad campaigns with Lee taking on the role of Mars Blackmon, the world’s first hardcore Jordan head. But with the Jordan 7, MJ was becoming too big a cultural force, so Blackmon was benched and replaced with another giant cultural icon, Bugs Bunny — foreshadowing the duo’s eventual collaboration in Space Jam, which would drop four years later.
Today, with a whole lot of fondness for this classic kick, we’re naming the greatest colorways to ever grace the Jordan VII silhouette. Let’s dive in.
Jordan VII Hare, 1992
I’m convinced that the entire reason Warner Brothers and Nike collaborated in ’92 for the Bugs Bunny meets Michael Jordan ad campaign was just so they could make the pun “Hare Jordan.” To which I say… totally worth it.
One of the debut colorways of the Jordan VII, the Hare has gone down as one of the sneaker’s most coveted colorways, and it’s easy to see why. The sneaker features a classic white, red, and black Chicago colorway with a colorful tongue design inspired by West African art motifs.
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Jordan VII Bordeaux, 1992
Another of the debut colorways and quite possibly the fan-favorite from the five sneaker set, the Bordeaux is one of the best Air Jordan colorways of all time.
The sneaker sports a black and grey color-blocked make-up with rich wine details on the embroidered Jumpman logo and throughout the zig-zag tongue, which also features splashes of deep blue, forest green, and yellow.
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Jordan VII Raptor, 1992
The Jordan VII Raptor — which is a fan-created unofficial name — must’ve been heaven for early ‘90s Toronto Raptors fans. The sneaker allowed fans of the team to rock a super sweet pair of Jordans while still showing team spirit.
Another debut colorway, the Raptors featured a black upper with contrasting True Red and Club Purple accents. The geometric shapes along the midsole look a bit like mountains at sunset.
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Jordan VII Cardinal, 1992
Of the five debut colorways, the Cardinal is the weakest in my opinion. But that opinion isn’t a popular one because this is the colorway Jordan wore when he won that second NBA championship. For that alone, it’s legendary.
The sneaker features a colorway very similar to the Hare, only with darker red tones and deeper blacks and yellow accents at the heel tab and embroidered Jumpman.
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Jordan VII Olympic, 1992
The reason I find the Cardinal to be the weakest of the five debut colorways is because the Olympics exists. This sneaker borrows the same color palette used on the Cardinal but with golden accents and hints of Navy Blue for Olympic regality.
This was the pair Jordan wore when he won a gold medal alongside the Dream Team at the ’92 Olympics. The sneakers have a sort of elevated air about them that translates through the design even without knowing they were worn at the Olympics.
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Jordan VII French Blue, 2002
For the first 10 years of this sneaker’s life, Jordan 7 colorways stayed unchanged until the Retro line of the sneakers dropped 10 years later and introduced the first new colorways outside of those first five.
The best of those new colorways was the Jordan 7 French Blue, which kept the base a bright white leather but added French and University Blue accents and branding, and hints of Flint Grey, resulting in a cool and muted take on the Jordan VII.
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Jordan VII Charcoal, 2002
The Charcoal is pretty much the Jordan VII’s version of the legendary BRED colorway. It features a mix of muted black, dark charcoal, and red. I’m not totally sold on it.
It was one of two new colorways to launch alongside the release of the Jordan VII Retro and of the two it feels the weakest to me. Having said that, it’s still a significant colorway in the sneaker’s history so we’re including it here.
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Jordan VII Flint, 2006
After the debut of the Retro Jordan VII, the silhouette wouldn’t get any new colorways until 2006 which would end up being as big a year for the silhouette as the debut drop in 1992. Many Jordan VII fans’ favorite colorway is from this era and one of the finest is the Flint.
The sneaker features a mix of white leather and dark suede with purple embroidered Jumpman and Jordan logos. Nearly twenty years later — it still looks fresh!
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Jordan VII Chambray, 2006
The Chambray may just be my absolute favorite colorway of the Jordan VII. Up until its release, the VII couldn’t quite nail a dark and moody colorway, instead leaning on that white leather base. Sure, you had the Raptors and Charcoal, but in the Chambray fans of darker colorways finally got what they were looking for.
The sneaker features a deep black upper with hints of icy pale blue accents and an overall stealthy air about it. The geometric shapes at the midsole remind me of ice-capped mountains.
Pick up a pair at GOAT.
Jordan VII Maize, 2006
Until recently, Jordan brand didn’t have the best track record for keeping up with its WMNS shoe-size audience, but there was at least some effort back in 2006 with this exclusive colorway.
The Maize isn’t as flashy as the other drops in the ’06 set but it’s still a fan favorite thanks to its mix of white leather and contrasting black and yellow details. Many a Jordan colorway would go on to use this same distinctive color palette.
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Jordan VII Pacific Blue, 2006
A Jordan VII with a distinctive West Coast vibe (even though the colors make me think of the New York Knicks), the Pacific Blue is one of the most unique colorways ever to grace this silhouette.
Built on a leather pearl white base, the Pacific Blue mixes cool tones with some contrast by way of Nike’s orange-toned Ceramic color.
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Jordan VII Citrus, 2006
If you are into the dark colors of the Chambray but aren’t as into the stealthy and moody vibe, the Citrus is for you. It features a deep black upper but it is accented with bright orange and rich crimson colors that pop against its dark foundation.
For many people, this is the best Jordan colorway. I don’t think it quite reaches the heights of the Chambray but I can’t deny that this is one for the books. It’s easily in the top five colorways for this silhouette.
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Jordan VII Miró, 2008
The Jordan VII Miró is conceptually a deep cut. Built off the base of the Olympic colorway, the Miró features graphics inspired by Barcelona-born artist Joan Miró’s Dona i Ocell sculpture.
Since the Olympic colorway is so closely associated with the Barcelona Olympic Games, this colorway feels like a real tribute to the Spanish city.
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Jordan VII DMP 60+ Magic, 2009
Inspired by the city of Orlando and a famous game in which Jordan scored 64 points against Orlando Magic in 1993, this sneaker features a mix of white leather, and black and Varsity Blue details with elephant print midsole detailing.
The sneaker’s tongue features white pinstripes on black, a reference to the away uniform for the Magic. It’s a dope design that points to a legendary game during Jordan’s reign.
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Jordan VII Orion, 2011
The Orion Jordan VII isn’t the most flashy release in the sneaker’s history, it doesn’t do anything radical with the palette or design, but we can’t fault it for that because at the end of the day, it looks great.
The sneaker features a white leather base with Orion Blue embroidered branding and Infrared accents and black details. It’s a simple but effective four-color design.
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Jordan VII Golden Moments, 2012
Released in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the 92 Summer Olympic Games, the Golden Moments Jordan VII represents a victory lap for the silhouette. The sneaker features an all-black upper with shimmering gold and white accents. It looks like a trophy that you can wear on your feet!
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Jordan VII Barcelona Days, 2015
This was a tough one. 2015 brought two sneakers inspired by the Dream Team’s time in Barcelona in ’92, the Barcelona Days and Barcelona Nights. There wasn’t room for both sneakers in this list so I’m going to have to give the coveted spot to the “Days” version.
Barcelona Days features a Wolf Grey leather upper with a mix of orange, turquoise, and infrared accents and charcoal black paneling.
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Jordan VII N7, 2015
Made to provide funding for sports programming in Native American and Indigenous communities, the Jordan VII N7 features a tribal-influenced graphic pattern along the sneaker’s tongue and ankle cage with a mix of turquoise and black accents over a white base with crimson branding.
I like the way the graphic pattern recalls the West African-inspired motif from the sneaker’s original drop.
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Jordan VII Hare 2.0, 2020
The Jordan VII Hare 2.0 is exactly what it sounds like — it’s a design that looks like a continuation of the legendary debut Hare Jordan. The sneaker features a pony hair upper in neutral gray with a mix of pink foam and white tones, a slightly icy outsole, and that original combination of pale green and black tones.
Is it as dope as the Hare 1.0? No, but we like this idea of Jordan brand building off of past colorways. We hope it’s a trend they continue in the future.
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Jordan 7 Vachetta Tan, 2022
The Vachetta Tan was released in celebration of the sneaker’s 30th anniversary. Unofficially dubbed the “Afrobeats,” this sneaker swapped out embroidered details for embossed details and featured a Vachetta tan leather upper with Dark Concord and Taxi accents.
The sneaker is also notable for featuring embroidered Nike Air branding at the heel. It’s a modern classic in the Jordan VII family.
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Jordan 7 White Infrared, 2023
Jordan Brand has spent much of this year mixing and matching colorways from other classic silhouettes, which brings us to the White Infrared.
Taking its colorway from the Jordan VI White Infrared — the sneaker MJ wore during the 91 Finals — this sneaker features a bright white leather base with gentle Infrared accents at the midsole graphic and Jumpman branding, with black detailing to balance the design.
It’s this year’s finest Jordan VII colorway and we’re happy to include it in the history of this silhouette’s best colorways. Even if it still works better on the VI.
Pick up a pair at GOAT.