OG and Retro are two of the many models of basketball shoes sold by Nike in collaboration with Michael Jordan. MJ, as he is lovingly called, is arguably the greatest basketball player of all times and Jordan shoes are designed and sold under his guidance. Introduced to the public for the first time in 1985, Jordan shoes remain as popular as ever after scores of models and shoes for men, women, and kids being sold across the world. People remain confused in choosing between OG and retro labels. Despite being Jordan shoes, there are differences between OG and Retro that will be highlighted in this article.
Retro Jordans
Nike has produced many other basketball shoes but the kind of craze and popularity that Jordan shoes have achieved remains unparalleled in the history of this leading shoes company of the world. Despite MJ having retired way back in 2003, Jordan shoes remain the top ranking basketball shoes in the world. Retro Jordans are either the shoes that MJ wore in his playing days or the classic Air Jordans that have been slightly modified to attract people today. The company keeps on releasing and rereleasing such shoes year after year to cash on the legacy of the great basketball player. So far there have been 28 models of Air Jordan shoes from I-XVIII. Re-releases of these models are known as retro in the markets. Retro shoes are a proof of the popularity and craze of MJ among the fans. While the design of the retro shoes remains the same, there are changes because of technological advances and also in the material that is used. They are today highly in demand, and people have started to treat them as collectible items.
OG Jordans
Every year Jordan Company restores a few of its earlier shoes by making minor changes in them and rereleasing them to cash on their popularity. However, there still are some models in the entire range that have not been retried till date. These are called OG or the originals. In fact, there are some models of Air Jordan that have been re-released several times to cash on the popularity of those models.
OG vs Retro
• Retros are the Air Jordan shoes that have been re-released by making minor changes in material and shoe making technology to recreate an earlier model.
• OG stands for original and means those models of Jordan shoes that have not been retried till date.
• There are some Jordan shoes out of so many models that have been rereleased several times though there are some that have not been retried till date. These are labeled the originals or OG.