The Jordan Son of Mars Low has just landed at The Closet Inc. in the "Red White Blue" colourway (580603-102), and the backstory of the silhouette goes back further than the shoe itself — back to a fictional Brooklyn character, a Spike Lee film, and a Nike commercial campaign that helped turn sneakers into a mass-market fashion category.
Mars Blackmon, Spike Lee, and the "It's gotta be da shoes" era
The Son of Mars lineage starts with a character. Mars Blackmon is a fictional character from Spike Lee's 1986 film She's Gotta Have It, played in the film by Lee himself. According to the character's Wikipedia article, Mars is described as a "Brooklyn-loving" fan of the New York Knicks, sports, and Air Jordans. That description — and the Brooklyn accent that came with it — was what led Nike to bring Lee into its late-1980s and early-1990s Air Jordan commercial campaign alongside Michael Jordan. Mars Blackmon became well known for the phrase "It's gotta be da shoes," and the Mars/Jordan ad campaign is widely credited as a landmark moment in the evolution of sneakers into a major fashion category.
From the Spiz'ike to the Son of Mars
The first Jordan Brand model built directly on the Mars Blackmon character was the Jordan Spiz'ike, released on October 21, 2006. According to Wikipedia's Air Jordan article, the Spiz'ike was created "as a tribute to Michael Jordan and Spike Lee's relationship," and its design was a blend of five earlier Jordan silhouettes: the Jordan III, IV, V, VI, and XX. The original Spiz'ike was a limited release — only 4,032 pairs were made, with proceeds going to a new film institute at Morehouse College. The Son of Mars Low follows the same hybrid concept: a Jordan Brand model that pulls panels, details, and material choices from earlier Jordan silhouettes into a single new shoe, and that carries the Mars Blackmon naming lineage forward. The silhouette has been released in a long list of colourways over its run, including Fire Red, Bordeaux, Shaded Blue, Bel-Air, Pro Stars, Turquoise Blue, White/Midnight Navy, Dark Sea, Grey Mist, and Black Metallic.
The Red White Blue is here: now at The Closet Inc.
The newest colourway in the Son of Mars Low run is the "Red White Blue" (style 580603-102), and it's now in stock at The Closet Inc. The shoe is built around a red-white-and-blue palette and follows the same hybrid silhouette construction as the rest of the Son of Mars Low family. It sits at a $210 CAD price point and is listed as a Men's Jordan Brand release on Nike's product index. The Closet Inc. also carries the other Jordan Son of Mars Low colourways currently in the line — Black Cement, Cement Grey Gym Red, White Cement, and Black Cat — so the Red White Blue arrives as part of a fuller rotation of the silhouette on our shelves. If you've been waiting for a Jordan hybrid silhouette that pulls from the Mars Blackmon era without the Spiz'ike price point, the Son of Mars Low is the version of that idea you actually walk into a store and buy today.