How To Spot FAKE Air Jordan 11 in 2023 (All Colorways)

Context

Depending on the release of the Air Jordan 11, the retail consistency and quality will differ. Hence, we stress using the same release and sizes as references when determining whether a feature is a "flaw" or simply quality differences resulting from Nike factories.

Rear View

Let's begin by taking a look at the rear view of the Air Jordan 11. A couple flaws we'll be on the look out for are the shape, size, alignment and the number design. Different Jordan 11s will have different numbers (E.g: 23, 45, etc).

The areas we'll be examining are [1] Heel Padding [2] Lower Patent Leather [3] Stitching

We'll take a look at multiple examples...

Air Jordan 11 Retro Space Jam [Ex: 1]

Stitching

Denoted by the yellow circle. Notice on the fake Jordan 11, the stitching at the lower patent leather is inconsistent and sloppy. The upper and lower thread have different amount of threads in the stitching. The bottom stitching has no spacing between each thread - creating a one long thread. However on the real Jordan 11, the threads are consistent between the upper and lower stitching.

Lower Patent Leather

Denoted by the dotted red line. Take a look at the curvature and parabola created by the lower patent leather. The fake shoe is much wider, which creates a flatter bottom. The authentic Jordan 11 is much more narrow, so you see a sharper curve.

NOTE: The extent of the lower patent leather curvature will differ slightly between different releases of Air Jordan 11s.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Bred [Ex: 2]

Heel Padding

Denoted by the dotted yellow line. Authentic Air Jordan 11s MUST have the upper heel padding represent a trapezoid shape. This means that the bottom width must be less than the upper width by a marginal difference. However, if you take a look at the fake shoe, you see an almost rectangular formation, where the upper and lower width are equal.

NOTE: Depending on the release, the shape of the heel padding will differ. However, it should never be rectangular with equal top and bottom widths.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 3]

Color

Denoted by the yellow outline. When counterfeit manufacturers deal with uncommon/peculiar colors, they'll often compensate with another similar shade of color. On the fake Jordan 11, you can see that the shade of grey used is much darker than on the retail shoe.

NOTE: Lighting will change your perception on the coloring. The image above is with the same lighting.

Lower Patent Leather

Denoted by the red circle. Notice the slight widow's peak on the patent leather on the replica Jordan 11. This isn't a 100% full proof indicator of authenticity, however it's still a great reference point. Authentic Jordan 11s will seldom have this flaw.

Jumpman Logo

Next, let's take a look at the Jumpman Logo on the side of the Air Jordan 11. Our focus would be on the quality of the embroidery.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Bred [Ex: 1]

Denoted by the green circle. Notice the quality of the embroidery between the real and fake Jordan 11 Jumpman logos. The replica logo is sewn in from different directions, which makes each thread overlap each other. However, on the authentic one, the threads are parallel to each other which make the stitching look neat.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 2]

Denoted by the red circle. The fake Jordan 11 Jumpman's arm is too skinny relative to the retail pair. Whereas, the authentic logo is much thicker and is using thicker threads.

The fake shoe is using thinner threads for the embroidered Jumpman compared to the original. You can tell due to the depth of the Jumpman. When you run your finger over the Jumpman, it should feel elevated and bumpy. However, on the fake you can tell that the logo is sunken into the sneaker itself because of thin threads. This will make the texture feel flat and smooth.

Toe Box

Next, let's take a look at the overall shape of the toe box and Air Jordan 11 from the side profile. Counterfeits will usually be "inflated" or "bulky" at the shape or toe box of the shoe. They'll also often have a longer/shorter toe box compared to retails.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 1]

Denoted by the green curved line. The green curved line is identical on the bottom and top image. However, on the fake Jordan 11, the toe box is much too bulky and big compared to the original. You can see how the original shoe takes up less space and still has room left over.

Also notice that the overall shape of the fake Jordan 11 Cool Grey is way bigger than the retail pair. If you don't catch this difference on first glance, take a look at the shoe lace straps denoted by the red arrows numbered 1, 2 and 3. Strap 1 is much longer on the replica shoe than on the real one. Strap 2 and 3 are almost the same size on the fake, whereas 2 is longer than 3 on the retail pair.

Denoted by the red oval. Authentic Jordan 11s must have a translucent sole, which is most noticeable on the toe box. You should be able to see through the soles almost completely, without struggling. The fake Jordan 11 in this case is much darker in the same light environment. The authentic sole has a light blue tint to it, whereas the fake barely does.

NOTE: This indicator is great for Jordan 11s in "new" or "like new" condition. The soles will fog and naturally lose its translucent property over time.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Concord [Ex: 2]

Denoted by the dotted red line. The fake Jordan 11 Concords have a much longer toe box relative to the retail shoe. Replicas usually have a much shorter or longer toe box, however some top-tier fakes get this correct.

Lace Tab

Next, let's take a look at the laces and the lace tab.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 1]

Denoted by the red arrows. The replica lace tab uses grey colored threads for the stitching. However if you take a look at the authentic pair, it uses white threads.

Also notice the darker shade of grey used on the fake for the letters on the tab. The real pair is a lighter shade of grey. The lighting in the image above is the same, however, keep in mind that lighting will change your perception of the color.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Jubilee 25th Anniversary [Ex: 2]

Denoted by the red box. The authentic Jubilee Jordan 11 has the Jumpman logo engraved into the lace tab itself. You can see the depth difference. However on the fake Jordan 11, the Jumpman logo weakly engraved, which gives it more elevation compared to the retail. Also consider the jagged edges of the Jumpman in the replica lace tab. The real one has smooth edges.

You can see the same issue arise with the text on the lace tab. The letters on the authentic Jordan 11 is engraved deeply, while the fake is extremely shallow.

Tongue Label

Next, take a look at the inner tongue, where a label is present. We'll examine the quality of the stitching and embroidery of the text.

From a quick glance, we can tell that the embroidery of the text and overall design is less defined and lower quality on the replica label compared to the retail. The text is clear and easy to read, whereas the letters on the fake is quite smudged and faded.

Some examples of this being most prominent are denoted by the dotted red boxes. The letter "Y" is extremely faded and unreadable on the fake. Also the "A" in "BALL" is smaller than the other letters and also unreadable on the replica.

Denoted by the yellow circle. You can see how the letter "T" in "ATES" looks like it's melting, whereas the retail is defined and sharp.

Soles

Next, let's flip the Jordan 11 over and look at the bottom outsoles of the shoe. We'll take a look at the [1] Color [2] Carbon Fiber [3] Translucence

Carbon Fiber

Denoted by the red box. Notice the checkered pattern of white/black on the carbon fiber of the Jordan 11. Authentic Jordan 11s will have black squares with rounded corners. However, on the fake you can see that the black spots are too rounded on the corners, which doesn't resemble a "square" at all anymore. They are black circles.

Color

Denoted by the yellow outline. The fake soles of the Jordan 11 Bred uses an extremely dark shade of "blood" red. The real shoe is a lighter shade of red, which has a tint of "pink" or "purple.

Carbon Fiber

Denoted by the green box. Take a look at the deformities of some of the black checkered spots on the replica. Some do not resemble a square at all and is completely formless or look rectangular.

Translucence

Denoted by the dotted blue circles. All Air Jordan 11s must have a translucent outsole where you can see the carbon fiber black/white checkered pattern through it. However, if you take a look at the fake Jordan 11, the carbon fiber is not visible in some areas where the soles get thicker. On the real shoe, you're able to see the carbon fiber throughout the entire sole.

Size Tag

Next, let's take a look inside the Air Jordan 11 shoe where the size tags are present. We'll be on the lookout for text [1] Thickness [2]Spacing [3] Inconsistencies

Denoted by the red box. The replica has this number much too small and unnecessarily bolded. The authentic size tag should have a larger font size as well thin letters.

Denoted by the blue box. This one is an easy one. The fake Jordan 11 tag flipped the UPC code and the dates, where the UPC code is on top and dates are on the bottom. However, the real tag is the opposite.

Denoted by the green box. The fake tag created two separate lines for "CN 270" and "(2.5)". However the authentic tag has the entire text in one single line.

Denoted by the yellow box. The real tag does not have this alpha-numeric code beneath the QR code, however the fake one does.

Insoles

Next, we'll examine the insoles inside of the Jordan 11s. We'll take a look at the front and back of the sneaker. The insoles will either have the Air Jordan Jumpman Logo or the Nike Air Swoosh Logo. We'll take a look at both.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 1]

Denoted by the yellow outline. The replica insole uses a much darker grey relative to the retail pair. The authentic Jordan 11 Cool Grey has a tint of "green" or "blue" to it. This will be difficult to tell unless compared with a retail. Keep in mind that the right image has better lighting and the grey is still darker than on the left. Lighting will change your perception of the color, so use intuition to determine if other factors are affecting it.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Bred [Ex: 2]

Denoted by the yellow circle. Notice the striations in the texture of the insoles themselves. Keep in mind that, the striations will differ depending on the Air Jordan 11 release. In this example of the Jordan 11 Retro Bred, the striations on the fake insole only goes on direction, which is horizontal to the insole. However the real Jordan 11 Bred goes horizontal and vertical - making a grid like pattern.

The replica back insole uses a slightly thicker text font than the original. You can tell by how prominent and noticeable the text is on the fake insole. The text on authentic pairs are usually quite weak because they're not deeply imprinted.

Footbed / Insole Stitching

Next, let's take a look deep inside the Air Jordan 11s. We'll be taking a look at the footbed of the sneaker, which is underneath the insoles. You'll have to remove the insoles from the sneaker to see this area. If it is glued shut, you may want to use a blow dryer to heat and soften the glue...

We'll be considering multiple indicators on the footbed: [1] Stitching Density [2] Footbed Coloring

Authentic Air Jordan 11s follow a pattern on the number of stitching used (the frequency of threads), so if the Air Jordan 11 seems like it has way too few or way too many white threads, then it is most likely a fake.

Reminder that we're not looking at how messy or how short/long each white thread is, but rather the total number of threads. This is important to clarify because no online guides or resources seem to know or even want to mention it and we believe it adds confusion for readers.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 1]

NOTE: The blue code on the footbeds do not hold much meaning as an indication for the authenticity. Some retails will have them. Some won't.

Footbed Coloring

Denoted by the yellow outline. Have a look at that difference in the color on the footbed of the authentic compared to the fake Jordan 11 Cool Grey. The fake uses a lighter grey, whereas the retail uses a dark grey.

Stitching Density

Denoted by the red box. The fake Jordan 11 has a much lower density of stitching throughout the entire footbed. The difference is most prominent on the heel area of the shoe. Within the red box, the real Jordan 11 has around ~25-30 threads give or take, whereas the fake one has ~15 threads.

Box Label

Next let's move onto the box label of the Jordan 11s. The box labels are one of the most consistent indicator we can rely on when it comes to Jordan 11s. We'll focus on [1] Text Thickness [2] Text Spacing

Air Jordan 11 Retro Space Jam [Ex: 1]

Denoted by the red box. The replica box label is bolded and too thick relative to the authentic Jordan 11 label. The colourway must have thin letters on the label.

Denoted by the blue box. We see this same issue arise with unnecessary bolding of text on the fake Jordan 11 box label, whereas the retail is thin.

Denoted by the yellow box. Here we can see the same issue on the price sticker. The fake one is bolded all throughout. Also notice that the "$220.00" on the fake is too spaced out between "$220." and "00" compared to the real box.

Air Jordan 11 Retro Cool Grey [Ex: 2]

Denoted by the red box. The fake label has absolutely no spacing between the letters at all, which stands out like a sore thumb. The retail is spaced out between each word normally.

Denoted by the yellow box. Observe how small the font size is on the fake box compared to the original.

Denoted by the green box. We see the same flaw with the letters being too small on the fake here as well. The retail font size here is much bigger.

Denoted by the blue box. This time in this area, the replica's font size for the barcode is far too tiny compared to the real Jordan 11 barcode.

UV Light

Finally, to tie it all up. This final step is optional only for people who have a UV light source. This step is universal for ALL sneakers/shoes. Turn off all external lights, and shine your UV light on the Air Jordan 11 and the box itself. Your goal is to look for any marks, stamps, or liquid/glue stains.

NOTE: Some very bad quality retail Air Jordan 11s will have noticeable glue stains at times. However, stamps/marks should NEVER be on the authentic pairs.

Above are some examples and indicators you're trying to look for. Authentic Air Jordan 11s should be completely mark or stamp free on the shoe itself and the box as well.

The marks shown in the above images are stamps from counterfeit manufacturers.