If you’re at a party and you want to impress a sneakerhead or a sneaker culture follower, then drop the name Aleali May. 

Aleali May is the first female to design a unisex Jordan. The shoe: A Jordan 1. The year: 2017. 

For Aleali May, it was love at first sight with Jordan sneakers. From the start, she never questioned her attraction to the silhouette. In a recent interview she described it this way, “You either had the Jordans or you don’t. So I got my first little job at 16. I was like, ‘I’m gonna spend my money at Foot Locker and Finish Line.’ 

Aleali May is now one of the most influential in not only sneaker culture but in culture in general. She has the pedigree to prove it. After working at Louis Vuiton and Virgil Abloh’s RSVP Gallery in Chicago, she joined forces with Nike for the now iconic “Shadow Satin” AJ1. Her first Jordan collaboration was inspired by growing up in South Central in the 90’s. She paid homage to her home and family by taking inspiration from her uncle’s wardrobe of Js, jerseys and fitteds.  She has since joined forces with WNBA star Maya Moore for an entire collection include two more Nike Jordan Collabs. 

When it’s in the stars for a star, it’s going to happen. I guess we could say that the coming together of Jordan and Aleali May was in the stars.