First Look At the 2026 Air Jordan 3 ‘True Blue’ In All Its OG Glory
Fans of the Air Jordan 3 are in for a few treats over the next year as the White Cements and True Blues are returning.
Black News 
Jordan Brand’s got a soft spot for the Chicago Bulls and those iconic black-and-red colorways, but every once in a while, a sneaker breaks the mold and reaches iconic status.
The Jordan 1s have many of those—the Bred 1s, Black Toes, and Chicagos—but the first to shake it up was the Air Jordan 3 ‘True Blue,’ and it’s making a much-anticipated return.
It was the 1987-88 season that Jordan wore the 3s, and the True Blues were the only OG pair to sneak through the Bred-ification of the silhouette during its original release. The other colorways were the Black Cements, White Cements, and the Fire Reds.
The True Blues take the colorblocking from the other colorways: a tumbled leather upper with signature grey elephant-print hits on the mudguard, surrounding the heel, and wrapped around the eyelets. But it breaks tradition with a royal blue-like color highlighting the midsoles and plastic eyelets.
Jordan himself didn’t even wear them throughout his career with the Bulls. He’d wait until his second comeback during his Washington Wizards stint because the blue paired well with his jersey.
Still, the True Blues have always been beloved by sneakerheads and have been retroed in 2001, spurred by said Wizard’s comeback, a European-only return in 2009, and, more generally, in 2011 and 2016.
And now ten years later, they’re reportedly returning again this summer on July 18.
Aside from toying with the shape, each release has had subtler changes, including Nike Air or Jordan Jumpman Branding on the heel tab, the number of blue panels on the shoe’s interior, and the color of the back of the tongue, which switches between blue and red.
Zsneakerheadz got a hold of the upcoming sneakers, albeit in grade-school sizing—but much to purists’ delight, the swoosh branding and red tongue are returning for a full-size run.
Fans of the Jordan 3s have another reason to celebrate. Another original colorway, the White Cements, will return in 2027 for the first time since the 2023 ‘Reimagined’ version, which put a vintage spin on the classic with a yellow-tinged midsole and heel tab.
Whichever colorway you’re looking forward to, see social media’s reaction to the upcoming release below.
