Some sneakers become important because they introduce new technology. Others because they are linked to an athlete, an artist, or a particularly successful collaboration. The Air Jordan 1 Colette Friends & Family, however, belongs to an entirely different category: it was created to celebrate the end of one of the most influential stores in contemporary fashion.
Made in 2017 as a tribute to Colette's twentieth anniversary, this Air Jordan 1 was not designed for a standard commercial release. Jordan Brand created it as a gift intended for people linked to the history of the Parisian store, transforming the classic silhouette into a true commemorative object.
From Colette's signature blue to the dates 1997 and 2017, and even the hidden text under the soles, virtually every detail tells the story of the beginning and the end of a fundamental chapter in fashion and streetwear culture.
Colette: the concept store that changed retail
Colette opened in Paris in 1997 at 213 Rue Saint-Honoré. The project was founded by Colette Roussaux and her daughter Sarah Andelman and quickly developed a way of understanding retail that was very different from traditional boutiques.
In the same space, luxury fashion, streetwear, sneakers, art, music, publishing, technology, and design objects coexist. Established brands can be found alongside emerging designers and products that are difficult to classify under normal retail categories.
This ability to blend different worlds became one of Colette’s most important characteristics. Long before the relationship between luxury and streetwear became a stable part of the fashion industry, the Parisian store was already treating sneakers and urban culture as elements of the same creative landscape.
For twenty years, Colette thus became an international point of reference, not only for what it sold, but for the way it selected, presented, and narrated its products.
Why Colette was so important for streetwear and sneaker culture
Today, seeing a sneaker alongside a high-fashion piece or a collaboration between a sports brand and a luxury house is absolutely normal. Between the late nineties and early 2000s, it was much less so.
Colette helped eliminate these divisions, building a selection where the cultural value of a product could count more than the category to which it belonged.
Nike, Jordan Brand, and numerous other protagonists of sneaker culture found the same space within the store dedicated to fashion, art, and design. Furthermore, collaborations and special editions became part of the store’s experience, not just products to be placed on shelves.
This is also why the relationship between Colette and Jordan Brand had a particular significance: both had by then become protagonists of the contamination between sport, fashion, and culture that the Parisian store had helped to normalize.
2017: why Colette closed after twenty years
In July 2017, unexpected news arrived: Colette would close permanently on December 20th of the same year.
The decision did not stem from a simple commercial failure. Colette Roussaux wished to retire, and the team explained that the store would not continue without its founder.
The choice to stop after exactly twenty years transformed the store's final months into a long celebration of its history. Collaborations, installations, and special projects accompanied Colette until its final day of operation.
On December 20, 2017, the doors of the Rue Saint-Honoré store closed permanently, leaving behind a legacy that would continue to influence retail for years to come.
Air Jordan 1 Colette: a tribute created by Jordan Brand
To celebrate the store's twenty years and its closing, Jordan Brand created a special version of the Air Jordan 1.
The sneaker was conceived as a Friends & Family gift, intended primarily for the people who had been part of Colette’s history. Therefore, it was not born as a collaboration developed for standard retail distribution.
The base is an Air Jordan 1 High built around the two colors immediately associated with the store: blue and white.
The result is deliberately simple. The sneaker does not try to tell the story of Colette through elaborate graphics: it uses a few extremely recognizable symbols and distributes them at the most significant points of the silhouette.
The design of the Air Jordan 1 Colette Friends & Family
The upper combines white panels with blue overlays and Swooshes, creating a colorway that immediately recalls Colette’s visual identity.
The famous double dot logo appears on the heel, formed by the two dots that represented one of the most recognizable symbols of the Parisian store.
On the back sides of the two shoes, we find two different dates: 1997 and 2017.
These are not simple decorations. 1997 indicates the year Colette opened, while 2017 marks the conclusion of its twenty years of activity.
The design thus succeeds in transforming an Air Jordan 1 into a small timeline of the store’s history.
1997 and 2017: the meaning of the dates on the heel
The two dates are probably one of the most important elements of the entire project.
1997 appears on one shoe, while 2017 appears on the other. The beginning and the end of Colette’s story are thus separated between the right and left foot.
Next to the dates, we find the double dot logo again, while the classic Air Jordan Wings logo keeps the original silhouette recognizable.
It is an extremely simple but effective solution: looking at the two shoes together, you immediately read the twenty years that the project intends to celebrate.
“Bonjour” and “Au Revoir” under the soles
The story continues in the most hidden part of the sneaker.
The Air Jordan 1 Colette uses a translucent outsole through which two different inscriptions are visible.
Under one shoe appears “Bonjour”, ideally linked to 1997 and the beginning of the store’s history. Under the other, we find “Au Revoir”, the final greeting associated with the 2017 closure.
In this way, the entire sneaker becomes a circular narrative: opening and closing, hello and goodbye, distributed between the two shoes.
Sarah Andelman later explained that these elements, together with the double dot logo and the two dates, were included precisely to summarize the store’s history within the sneaker.
Why the Colette Jordan 1 did not have a public release
The Air Jordan 1 Colette was born first and foremost as a memento for people linked to the store.
For this reason, no normal public release was organized in 2017. There was no traditional retail launch or distribution comparable to that of normal Jordan collaborations.
The pairs were allocated to the Friends & Family circle and the Colette team, making the sneaker extremely difficult to find from the very beginning.
The total production numbers were never reliably made public. It is therefore more accurate to speak of an extremely limited edition without assigning unconfirmed figures to it.
This origin naturally places it among the most unique grail sneakers linked to the Air Jordan 1: its collectible value stems as much from its scarcity as from the story it represents.
The 30 Air Jordan 1 Colette pairs distributed by StockX in 2019
However, the story took a particular turn two years after the store closed.
In 2019, Sarah Andelman collaborated with StockX to make the last 30 pairs of the Air Jordan 1 Colette available.
This was not a true reissue or a normal commercial release. The original pairs were used as part of a charity campaign, and the proceeds were donated to Oceana, an organization committed to protecting the oceans.
The initiative made it possible, for the first time, for a small number of people outside the Friends & Family circle to officially obtain a pair, without changing the original nature of the sneaker.
According to StockX, the 2019 campaign raised over $180,000 for Oceana.
How rare is the Air Jordan 1 Colette today?
The rarity of the sneaker depends on a combination that is difficult to replicate.
Production was extremely limited, there was no normal public release, and the pairs are linked to a project that cannot simply be proposed again: the closure of Colette after twenty years of activity.
Over the years, some pairs have naturally arrived on the secondary market and in specialized auctions. Their presence on the market, however, does not make the sneaker common: availability, size, condition, and provenance can vary significantly from one pair to another.
ResellZone also offers the Air Jordan 1 Retro High Colette Friends & Family, allowing you to observe the model's details directly and check its availability.
Why the Colette Jordan 1 has become a grail
The Air Jordan 1 Colette Friends & Family proves that rarity alone is not enough to explain why a sneaker becomes truly important.
The cultural value of the model derives above all from what it represents. For twenty years, Colette helped put fashion, sneakers, art, music, and design in the same space, anticipating a way of experiencing retail that seems much more normal today.
Jordan Brand transformed that path into a sneaker using just a few elements: blue and white, two dots, two dates, and two words.
The result is an Air Jordan 1 that does not simply celebrate a collaboration, but the entire life of a store.
“Au Revoir”: a sneaker that tells of the end of an era
The meaning of the Colette Jordan 1 is probably best understood by looking at the two soles together.
On one side there is “Bonjour”, on the other “Au Revoir”. Between those two words lie twenty years of fashion, collaborations, designers, sneakers, and people who passed through Rue Saint-Honoré.
Colette never reopened as a store, and the Air Jordan 1 Friends & Family did not become a recurring collaboration. And this is precisely what makes the project difficult to replicate.
The Air Jordan 1 Colette therefore remains one of the most interesting cases in which a sneaker manages to function as a collectible item and at the same time as a document of a precise moment in contemporary culture.
