Who’s the Brand Behind The $1,000 Jordan Jacket?
There’s a clever bit of wordplay to be made about an underground streetwear label creating a Jordan collection themed around time capsules buried underground, but we just haven’t unearthed it yet. …please laugh.
The cult Japanese brand Saint Michael — also known by the keyboard-breaking moniker “Saint Mxxxxxx” and more mathlete-ready “Saint Mx6” — has entered its nostalgiamaxxing era, digging up a selection of graphic sportswear in collaboration with Jordan Brand. The capsule features a selection of graphic tees, hats, and sweats, but it’s a dripped-out varsity jacket that made the biggest splash since it was debuted by Lakers star Rui Hachimura in late April.
Dressed in Jordan's inimitable "University Red" hue, the jacket mixes motifs: “Saint Jordan” runs down the sleeves; “23/45,” Michael Jordan’s jersey numbers, stand out in a sea of patches; a bit of poetic flourish comes by way of the embroidered phrase: “free as a bird flying high up in the sky.” The price of being free as a bird? $1,000, making this one of the most expensive Jordan releases since the $2,000 Dior x Air Jordan 1 High in 2020, which had apparel to match.
If Jordan is the pinnacle of sportswear, Saint Michael is the best representative of the modern street-grunge scene, though it mostly left its taste for all-distressed everything at home here.
The pairing doesn’t just reaffirm Jordan as a source for tapped-in collabs but also confirms that, much like an unearthed time capsule, Saint Michael isn’t quite as underground as it once was.
Launched in 2020 by Yuta Hosokawa, founder of ultra-expensive upcycling imprint READYMADE, and Cali Thornhill DeWitt, the LA-based artist perhaps most famous for his Life of Pablo merch, Saint Michael quickly became a favorite of rappers — including A$AP Rocky, Drake, and Travis Scott — for its heavily distressed vintage-inspired T-shirts and sweaters that’ve become indicative of a certain strain of high-end grunge.
In the past six years, Saint Michael has built a following by dishing licensed odes to anime franchises like Attack on Titan and Evangelion, filtered cultural forebears like Denim Tears and BAPE through its ragged-luxe aesthetic, and inadvertently set off the ire of Christians with a varsity jacket adorned with abstract Jesus renderings by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami.
It also foretold a swelling tide of spendy and raggedy gear from brands like Better With Age and Paly Hollywood, with whom it often shares shelf space. A few of Saint Michael’s peers have notched a high-profile sportswear collab or two — Satoshi Nakamoto’s shiny Vans are a crowd pleaser — but this Jordan cosign is a pretty remarkable high-water mark.
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