After early releases at Super Bowl LX in San Francisco and NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, the Levi’s x Air Jordan 3 collaboration received its wider launch Saturday, but things didn’t go completely as planned. While the collection’s Rigid indigo and Black Denim styles were set to be released, it was only the latter that ended up dropping from a majority of stockists including Nike’s own Snkrs app. The Rigid colorway was quietly pulled ahead of its launch with no official reason given, and now there are reports that some of the pairs were affected by quality issues.
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Various images circulating on social media show the Indigo Levi’s x Air Jordan 3 SP with splotches of what appears to be mold across its blue denim upper. Retailer Premium Goods confirmed that the sneakers would not be released because of unspecified quality concerns.
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“Due to quality control issues we will not launch the rigid blue tomorrow. We will only be launching black,” the store wrote on its Instagram story. Meanwhile, the shoes were quietly removed from many retailers and Nike’s Snkrs app without explanation.
These sorts of quality control mishaps are rare, but not unprecedented. Some pairs of 2022’s Lost and Found Air Jordan 1 were affected by mold issues, as was 2015’s Air Jordan 1 KO Bred. And in ’22 and 2023, some customers received orders of Tom Sachs’ Nike General Purpose Shoe with mold issues.
While Nike will typically refund any customers who experience these problems with their pairs, it’s still undetermined what will happen to the stock that was postponed from Saturday’s release.
When reached for comment, a Jordan Brand spokesperson provided the following statement: “We were recently made aware that a small number of Levi’s AJ3 Indigo colorway units do not meet Jordan Brand’s high-quality standards. We are working to resolve the issue and replace impacted products.”
The Levi’s x Air Jordan 3 Indigo is now scheduled to be released from Nike’s Snkrs app on Wednesday, Feb. 25 for $230.