Michael Jordan wasn’t the only one in Nike’s roster that had their own signature during the ’90s. There was David Robinson and Penny Hardaway, too. And lest we forget—Charles Barkley. MJ may have had all his cake and ate it too. Sir Charles didn’t have any cake but just ate some anyway. He was one of the NBA’s greatest rebounders, and indubitably its greatest gourmand.

Jokes aside. His most popular signature shoe is set to make another comeback and like its namesake, it won’t be ignored. Last seen in 2020, the Nike Air Max CB 94, in its “Triple Black” iteration has been confirmed to return during the holiday season.

Pardon the segue but the misnomer is worth addressing: it’s officially called the Nike Air Max² CB ’94. A superscript 2, squared for the Air Max² technology it was built upon. But it’s been relegated to Air Max2 CB ’94 on the last batch of retros until presently at Air Max CB 94. Whichever works for Google’s SEO, right?

Anyway, new and familiar colorways have been surfacing since the tail-end of last year and this monochromatic iteration is the latest announced.

Unlike its color palette, the shoe is built with a mix of materials. Nubuck forms the base layer with suede overlays engulfing it like Bane’s mask. From the toe cap to the perforated quarters, all the way up to the ankle collar. A singular blue hit on the outsole underfoot breaks the entire uniformity of the color blocking. There in its most conspicuous is the Swoosh framed adjacent to the visible air window.

No firm release date has been confirmed yet but they’re expected to carry an RRP of US$170. Find them on Nike’s brick-and-click sometime in December.

In other news under the Swoosh’s umbrella, have a look at the Nike Terminator Low “Liberté”.