Bephies Beauty Supply Celebrates The Air Jordan 7

2022 celebrates 30 years of the Air Jordan 7, designed by Tinker Hatfield and released in 1992. The original design was inspired by African tribal artwork that can be seen developed to create the intricate shapes and patterns seen on the upper of the shoe. Taking cues from his 1991 Huarache, and '92 Air Flight Huarache, Hatfield decided to create the AJ7 with a more toned-down approach, opting to only include Jordan Brand branding and scrapping the Nike branding usually seen on Jordan sneakers up till that point, with the designer predicting that Jordan Brand would, and should, grow by itself without its close affiliation with Nike.

OG Air Jordan 7 'Bordeaux', 1992

However, it wasn’t just the lack of Nike branding that was taken from the Huarache. In addition, the overall silhouette has features of the ‘91 hiking sneaker within its DNA including the neoprene inner boot inspired by water skis in addition to the overall lighter weight design. Additionally, the Air Jordan 7 was the first model since the AJ2 in 1986 to not include Hatfields visible Air Unit.

 
Beth Gibbs for HER Magazine. Image via Jerry Buttles

As part of Nike’s celebrations of the Air Jordan 7, they have partnered with Beth Gibbs, wife of Union LA founder Chris Gibbs, and her brand ‘Bephies Beauty Supply’ AKA BBS, which looks to build a community in support of women of colour and LGBTQ+ creatives.

 

OG Nike Air Flight Huarache, 1992

Marking the first sneaker to be released between BBS and Jordan Brand (in additional partnership with Union LA and Nike’s ‘SNKRS’), following Beth Gibbs' work on the recent Union LA x Nike Cortez, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the collaboration was a Nike Air Flight Huarache as opposed to an Air Jordan 7 model.

Image via Hypebeast

The overall silhouette is the closest resemblance we’ve seen yet to the AJ7s inspiration, with a rubber heel strap that has been taken from the 1991 Mowabb and Huarache but instead reads ‘Air Jordan’ as opposed to ‘Nike Air’. Additional details include a hollowed-out ankle support, closer to that of the original Huarache design.

Image via Hypebeast

While the usual Air Jordan 7’s ankle support provides a more rigid feel, Gibbs has instead utilised a light mesh material to encase the inner sock liner which is tied with a drawstring attached to the bottom laces of the shoe. Additional smaller details include a mini Swoosh on the lateral side, again reminiscent of the Nike Air Mowabb we saw released in 2021, as well as a small stitching detail on the toebox to tie the orange detailing throughout the sneaker together.

Image via Hypebeast

On the heel panel, we see a rubberised version of the Bephies Beauty Supply notif, with the addition of the BBS logo front and centre on the shoebox. The lower half of the sneaker maintains the usual AJ7 silhouette that fans have come to know and love that continues to feature the smooth orange, peach and beige colour palette seen within the project.

The collaboration between Beth Gibbs and Jordan Brand is certainly a breath of fresh air for sneakerheads, especially women within the sneaker industry. Not only are we beginning to see a larger shift in women’s exclusive releases, allowing them to create projects that tell a story, but also produce products that women can be genuinely proud and excited about.

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