How Jordan Brand’s New York City Women’s Collective Inspired A New Air Jordan 2 Colourway

As the most famous woman in New York, Lady Liberty has been a beacon of light for the world as she symbolises new beginnings as well as courage, hope, and virtue. Her statuesque beauty truly concretises the divine feminine and captures the rock-hard resilience of the women who run New York City. 

Left to right: Yaya Mazurkevich, Chelsea Baez, Jourdan Ash, Kwynn Butts, Shema Love, Annette Cruz, and Marisa Bryant

Jourdan Ash, Yaya Mazurkevich Nuñez, and Marisa Bryant are three members from the 2022 Jordan Brand Women’s Collective and were a part of the New York City cohort. Together, along with other cohort members Chelsea Baez, Shema Love, Annette Cruz, and Kwynn Butts, the group made history as the first class of the Jordan Brand Women’s Collection and were honoured with their very own sneaker, the new Air Jordan 2 “Statue of Liberty”.

“It's really great to have a shoe that tells the story of New York, by New Yorkers, from New Yorkers, for Jordan,” said Jourdan Ash, Founder of True To Us, a blog dedicated to the foundational Black and brown women in streetwear and sneakers.

Jourdan Ash

The NYC collective was adamant that they have their own retro and their wish was granted as Jordan Brand selected the Air Jordan 2 for the group. Being the only cohort within the collective to work on a retro Jordan model, the women came together with the Jumpman's design team to pay tribute to the place they all are proud to call home. And what would New York City be without Lady Liberty? The iconic sculpture inspired the NYC collective’s Air Jordan 2 “Statue of Liberty” colourway. The sneaker has a premium white leather upper with a crystal mint trim inspired by Lady Liberty’s oxidised sea green hue. The Air Jordan 2 “Statue of Liberty” also nods to the sculpture’s beginnings with metallic red bronze details on the eyelets and Air Jordan Wings, inspired by Lady Liberty’s copper underlay.

“Premium materials were really important for us. It’s such a beautiful shoe in-hand,” said Jourdan. “It was super affirming to have people look at our shoe and be like, ‘Yo, when does that come out?’”

The Air Jordan 2 “Statue of Liberty” isn’t the only sneaker that was inspired by the 2022 Jordan Brand Women’s Collective as its inaugural class featured creatives, culture-shifters, and community-builders throughout Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and Shanghai. From each of the select cities, Jordan Brand invited women to have a seat at the table and make decisions alongside the JB design teams, as well as attend events, panels, and mentorship workshops. Although the Jordan Brand Women’s Collective is still in its early days, the program exists to advance women in the sneaker space and provide insights on career opportunities. The New York City cohort, along with its sister cities Chicago and Los Angeles, spent nearly a year working shoulder to shoulder with Jordan Brand to not only learn from some of the best in the industry, but to give feedback straight to the source.

“As a shoe-obsessed person it was really dope that from the beginning, [Jordan Brand] asked a lot of questions about product,” said Yaya Mazurkevich Nuñez, Founder and CEO of Marketing Studio, a Latina-owned and women-led creative agency. “Then, three or six months later, you actually get to see the things that you guys talked about. I think that’s really dope because you get to see your imprint while you're literally in stores.”

Yaya Mazurkevich Nuñez

From voicing their opinions on colour selection to fighting for a more inclusive size range, and even suggesting that the gender binary be dismantled in sneakers altogether, the collective not only offered their brains, but their hearts as well as they worked with Jordan Brand on community initiatives.

“I've always wanted to be someone who gives back because I like being involved in communities and doing the work,” said Marisa Bryant, model and writer. “Jordan Brand helped us to [give back]. That was always really important for me in my career, and I didn't really know how to get into those things.”

Marisa Bryant

Jordan Brand managed to create a sneaker-head sorority of sorts as the collective served as an opportunity for like-minded women to come together and create friendships with sneakers and the community at its core.

“I feel like I became very close to each of my collective members,” said Marisa. “There's not one person I feel distant from. It's a very close-knit group of girls, even Chicago and LA. We all get along really well. For [Jordan Brand] to bring me all new friends and sisters, that's the greatest gift to me.”

Left to right: Shema Love, Marisa Bryant and Annette Cruz

Although the 2022 Jordan Brand Women’s Collective has officially come to an end, the global sportswear brand still provides opportunities to the members, both individually and as a group. As the Jordan Brand Women’s Collective progresses, the inaugural NYC cohort hopes that they will continue to serve as a unified catalyst that fights for women’s representation within the sneaker industry.

“There's a lot of amazing women that design sneakers that need to be given more voice, more power, more leadership, and promotions,” said Yaya. “I hope that everybody that is chosen to experience this is somebody that will use the opportunity to the best of their ability and make it count.”

Left to right: Yaya Mazurkevich, Kwynn Butts, Marisa Bryant, Shema Love, Annette Cruz, Chelsea Baez and Jourdan Ash

The Air Jordan 2 “Statue of Liberty” is available now. The retail price is set at $175. To purchase, visit Nike.com and select retailers.

Images courtesy of Jumpman, shot by Laura S. Fuchs