Michael Jordan’s ‘Shadow’ Air Jordan 10 Is Coming Back With a Controversial Detail

One of Michael Jordan’s lesser-celebrated yet still beloved Air Jordan sneakers is set to return in 2025 with an obscure detail that Jordan himself didn’t want on retail shelves.

The Air Jordan 10 Retro “Shadow” will receive a rerelease during holiday ’25. The original colorway of the model was first released in 1994 during Jordan’s brief retirement from the NBA, but he would eventually return and wear the sneaker on court. 

The “Shadow” Air Jordan 10 style mixed smoky gray suede with black leather and a checker-patterned liner. The outsole and heel included Jumpman emblems in red, the shoe’s only sprinklings of color. And the outsole also featured what is arguably the sneaker’s defining feature: a list of Jordan’s career accolades from his 1985 rookie year to what could have been his final year in the NBA, 1994. 

Another detail that sets the Air Jordan 10 apart is a feature that was (mostly) removed prior to its official release. Designer Tinker Hatfield’s original design for the Air Jordan 10 included a controversial leather toe cap. 

This toe-capped version of the model was said to be used as a salesman’s sample and was featured in early advertisements for the shoe. According to lore, an untold number of pairs (the majority of them in the “Steel” colorway) even trickled out to stores, but Jordan himself vetoed the design detail and the toe cap was removed from subsequent releases. To this day, the model hasn’t been intentionally released with the toe cap addition, but that’s said to be changing next year.

According to leakers @zsneakerheadz and Sneaker Files, the Air Jordan 10 “Shadow” will be rereleasing during holiday ’25 with the original toe cap overlay. Additionally, the sneaker is also said to have an improved shape that will more closely resemble the original ’94 iteration. Retail pricing of $210 is expected for the “Charred Gray/True Red/Black” colorway.