JORDAN ‘MAY HAVE LOST WAY’ ON QUALITY IN PAST

Jordan’s Global Innovation Design Director has admitted to MVP that, at one point, the brand ‘may have lost [its] way a little bit’ with regards to the quality of its shoes.

The revelation came when we asked Rob Bruce about Jordan Brand’s plans to “remaster” its entire retro line, with higher quality materials and, with it, a higher price tag.

We put it to him that some Jordan fans felt slightly ripped-off, as it meant they’d been getting a sub-standard product for years, and that this smelt like a way of getting more money out of them.

“My take, from a pure design sense, is that we have to honour that past,” he told us. “You have to make them exactly as they were when they first launched. If not, better.”

“There are [now] new methods, new materials, new processes, that will actually create a better, more highly conveted shoe.

“I think it’s really, really important to be honest – if you’re paying for a luxury product, it damned well better be right. I think we realised that, that it’s really important.

“We may have lost our way there a little bit, but I think Jordan is really on track. It’s critical that we nail that, because consumers know when quality has gone sub-standard and nobody likes that. We’re not happy with that, and certainly kids out there aren’t happy with that.”

Bruce was speaking to MVP at the launch of the Jordan XX9 at Nike’s World Basketball Festival in Barcelona.

In a wide-ranging interview he touched on the crucial role of Tinker Hatfield in the Jordan success story, the importance marketing and keeping product numbers limited, and the weight of expectation on his shoulders to drive the brand forward into the future.

Read the full interview on MVP247.com soon.