By Tres Dean

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The Air Jordan 4 was a cultural juggernaut. While the first three of Michael Jordan’s signature shoes had been massive hits already, the stars really aligned on this 1989 iteration to make it something extra special: designer Tinker Hatfield was operating at his ingenious best, experimenting here with innovative materials like mesh and molded plastics; MJ himself had fully become a dominant force on the basketball court, hitting The Shot over Cleveland in that year’s playoffs; and Spike Lee’s Mars Blackmon commercials were at their absolute peak, with the director also putting the AJ4 in a key scene in his classic film Do the Right Thing.
All of that added up to a shoe that has remained among the most widely cherished in the Air Jordan canon. There are no shortage of all-time great Air Jordan 4 colorways, ranging from the OG makeups to new-school collabs alike, and it’s easily one of the comfiest and most wearable Js around, with no less of a tastemaker than Billie Eilish lacing them up time and time again on-stage. You can’t go wrong with any AJ4s, really, but some classics are more classic than others—so below, we’re running through the 17 best Air Jordan 4 releases of all time.

17. Levi’s x Air Jordan 4 ‘White Denim’ (2018)
For two Goliaths of American fashion, Levi’s and Jordan Brand’s collaborations haven’t always worked as well as you might think. But this one, finished in spotless white denim with a handsome gum sole and a traditional red Levi’s tab, lives up to both brands’ much-heralded reputations.

16. Paris Saint-Germain x Air Jordan 4 ‘Bourdeaux’ (2020)
Jordan Brand’s ongoing partnership with French football giants Paris Saint-Germain has resulted in a handful of dope exclusive colorways in the club’s colors. This one, a maroon-and-white color scheme based on the club’s 2020-21 third kit, is the best of the bunch.

15. Air Jordan 4 ‘Military Blue’ (1989)
Arguably he least beloved of the Air Jordan 4’s original 4 colorways (you’ll see the other three much, much further up this list), the ‘Military Blue’ is still clean, simple, extremely wearable, and utterly classic. Maybe it doesn’t make the heart race as much as some of the other AJ4s out there, but it still very much deserves a spot in any solid sneaker collection.

14. Off-White x Air Jordan 4 ‘Sail’ (2020)
Only produced in women’s sizing, this Air Jordan 4 is one of the few collaborative kicks from Virgil Abloh’s Off-White that’s actually off-white. While not part of Abloh’s history-making The Ten collection from 2017, it’s one of the standouts—maybe even the standout—of the legendary designer’s later output with the Swoosh.

13. Nike SB x Air Jordan 4 ‘Pine Green’ (2023)
Air Jordans have long-held ties to skateboarding, and in recent years, the brand has leaned into that heritage more and more. Arguably its biggest acknowledgement of the culture to date was this ultra-clean, skate-ified Air Jordan 4, produced in partnership with Nike SB and rolled out exclusivley through mom-and-pop skate shops.

12. Air Jordan 4 ‘Thunder’
The Air Jordan 4 ‘Thunder’ is a simple colorway with a vital history. The brand originally launched it as an online exclusive, creating an air of unattainability around the killer black-and-yellow colorway. It’s since come back via traditional retailers and remains beloved by sneakerheads—including the brash-wardrobed likes of Robert Downey, Jr.

11. Air Jordan 4 ‘Doernbecher’ (2011)
Designed by a young leukemia patient named Isiah Scott, this Superman’d-out Air Jordan 4 is part of one of the coolest and most meaningful Nike collabs ever—the Swoosh’s ongoing series of sneakers that benefit the OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. An absolutely bonkers and beautiful shoe for a very worthy cause.

10. A Ma Maniére x Air Jordan 4 ‘Violet Ore’ (2022)
It’s hard to point to a single crowning achievement among A Ma Maniére’s many excellent collabs with Nike and Jordan, but this quiet take on the Jordan 4—decked out in regal violet suede with an off-white sole—might just be the pinnacle.

9. Union x Air Jordan 4 ‘Noir’ (2020)
After producing one of the hottest Air Jordan 1 collabs ever in 2018, Union had a more controversial follow-up with this Air Jordan 4. Fans were initially split over the shoe’s ’80s-ish color blocking and innovative fold-down tongue, but the years have been kind to this bold interpretation’s reputation, and it’s now nearly as coveted as the aforementioned 1s.

8. Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4 ‘Brick by Brick’ (2025)
Maybe there’s some recency bias at play here, but damn if Nigel Sylvester doesn’t remain one of Jordan’s most reliable collaborators. His take on the Air Jordan 4, which coats the shoe in a beautiful brick orange, pays homage to the foundations you lay on the journey to greatness. Plus, the novelty of his now-signature “Bike Air” branding (this time featured across the heel of the shoe) has yet to wear off.

7. Kaws x Air Jordan 4 ‘Cool Grey’ (2017)
Covered in rich gray suede, the famed artist Kaws’s signature Air Jordan 4 is one of the most hyped Jordan collabs of the last couple decades. Featuring subtly embossed artwork and a signature Kaws “X” flourish on the heel tab, it’s a genuine work of art—and priced accordingly. If you’re looking to cop a pair, be prepared to drop at least a few grand.

6. Travis Scott x Air Jordan 4 ‘Cactus Jack’ (2018)
While he’s become best known for his backwards-Swoosh renditions of the Air Jordan 1, Travis Scott’s first Jordan Brand linkup was actually this splashy spin on the Air Jordan 4. Draped in the Houston Oilers’s signature blue and red, it’s an inspired take on a timeless silhouette.

5. Air Jordan 4 ‘Fire Red’ (1989)
Among the most reliable of the OG Jordan color schemes, ‘Fire Red’ has rarely looked as good as it does on the Air Jordan 4. It’s one of those colorways that makes it look so easy: white leather, red and black details. Sometimes making a great shoe is as simple as that.

4. Air Jordan 4 ‘Black Cat’ (2006)
You can’t go wrong with black. You also can’t go wrong with more black. And you really can’t go wrong with a black-on-black-on-black Air Jordan 4, the coolest sneaker of all time doused in the toughest color ever.

3. Air Jordan 4 ‘Bred’ (1989)
Speaking of things you can’t go wrong with: Black and red, the signature Air Jordan colorway, has rarely looked better than it does on the Air Jordan 4. Doesn’t hurt that this was the iteration of the shoe that Michael Jordan wore when he hit The Shot over the Cavaliers in the 1989 playoffs. A legendary moment worthy of a truly legendary sneaker.

2. Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 (2005)
It’s not every day that a single shoe changes the sneaker world forever. The Undefeated x Air Jordan 4 very much did. As the first-ever Air Jordan collaboration with a sneaker boutique, the LA institution kicked the door down for the wide-ranging universe of major partnerships we know today—and they did it in epic style, decking the silhouette out in a lush olive suede with orange accents inspired by the classic MA-1 bomber jacket. Only 72 pairs of the collab were produced in 2005, turning it into one of the rarest and most sought-after shoes in the world. Twenty years later, Undefeated finally saw fit to bring it back—albeit with a few minor details swapped to protect the allure of the original—and it remains beyond beloved among sneakerheads of every age.

1. Air Jordan 4 ‘White Cement’ (1989)
I mean, just look at it. It’s perfect. The speckled gray accents. The clean white leather and netting. The sharp black details. There’s a reason Spike Lee chose this version of the shoe to make the centerpiece of Do the Right Thing’s most memorable scene: Of course you’d be heated if someone scuffed up your brand new White Cements. The most coveted of the original core-four Air Jordan 4 colorways is also simply the best Air Jordan 4 ever created—and one of the most important sneakers of all time, period.