Air Jordan 4 'Midnight Navy'

A color swap on a classic

Tinker Hatfield's Air Jordan 4 launched around the turn of 1989 in four colorways: White/Black, Black/Cement Grey, White/Fire Red-Black and Off White/Military Blue. It was the first Air Jordan sold on the global market, and over three decades its OG colorways have been reissued again and again.

The Midnight Navy is not one of them. It takes the 'White Cement' 4, the white-and-black pair with speckled grey accents, and keeps its blocking almost exactly. One release report called it 'an autumnal update to the iconic "White Cement,"' staying near-identical to the 2016 White Cement retro while 'flipping its formerly jet-black accents for a dominant sampling of "Midnight Navy."'

It belongs to a habit Jordan Brand leaned into in these years: color-swapping its OG releases, keeping the original layout and changing one hue, so that a new shoe reads instantly as a classic.

What changed and what didn't

The base is crisp white tumbled leather, as on the White Cement. Midnight Navy takes over the eyestays, collar caging, heel counter and midsole, the places the original had black. Speckled grey accents run through the collar caging and heel counter, and the liner and sole unit match the navy.

Reports differ on some trim details. One describes the wings as moved from OG black to cement and the tongue Jumpman as red; another describes dark blue Jumpman logos on the heel and the canvas tongue tab. The official colorway lists Fire Red alongside the navy and Light Smoke Grey.

One thing all accounts agree on: the heel carries a Jumpman, not the 'Nike Air' branding Jordan Brand had restored on retros of the OG colorways such as the 2016 White Cement.

Release

The Midnight Navy 4 released on October 29, 2022, at $210, as part of Jordan Brand's Holiday 2022 lineup. It was a standard release through Nike's own app and store and a long list of mall and specialty retailers.

Pairs were circulating months before that: one report notes they were available early on resale platforms as of July 19, 2022.

It arrived a year and a half before the Air Jordan 4 that its blue is most often confused with. The OG 'Military Blue' was reissued in 2006 and 2012 with Jumpman heels and returned on May 4, 2024, as FV5029-141, at $215, with 'Nike Air' on the heel for the first time since 1989.

How to identify it

Look for style code DH6927-140 and the colorway White/Midnight Navy-Light Smoke Grey-Fire Red on the box label. A white tumbled-leather upper with navy eyestays, collar cage, heel counter and midsole, plus a Jumpman heel tab, is the Midnight Navy.

Do not confuse it with the Military Blue. The Military Blue is a 1989 colorway listed as Off White/Military Blue; its retros carry their own codes, including FV5029-141 for the 2024 pair, which Jordan Brand renamed 'Industrial Blue' though the box label still reads Military Blue.

Why it's collected

The Midnight Navy is a modern shoe built on old bones. It gives collectors the shape and blocking of the White Cement 4 in a color the original never came in. It has no on-court history; its appeal is the design itself.

The numbers

Release date

October 29, 2022

Retail price

$210

Style code

DH6927-140

Colorway

White/Midnight Navy-Light Smoke Grey-Fire Red

Production

No production figures have been published

Timeline

1. Dec 1988

   One reference work dates the Air Jordan 4's public release to December 1988, in four colorways.

2. Sep 9, 2006

   The Military Blue 4 gets its first retro, at $115, with a Jumpman heel.

3. Jun 9, 2012

   Military Blue retro at $160, again with a Jumpman heel.

4. Feb 13, 2016

   The White Cement 4 returns with 'Nike Air' branding; the Midnight Navy will be nearly identical to it.

5. Jul 19, 2022

   Pairs of the Midnight Navy are available early on resale platforms.

6. Oct 29, 2022

   The Air Jordan 4 Midnight Navy, DH6927-140, releases at $210.

7. May 4, 2024

   The Military Blue 4 returns with 'Nike Air' on the heel, at $215.

The world in 2022

• Feb 13, 2022

  The Los Angeles Rams beat Cincinnati 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI.

• Feb 24, 2022

  Russia launches a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Mar 27, 2022

  Will Smith slaps Chris Rock on stage at the Academy Awards.

• Apr 7, 2022

  Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first Black woman confirmed to the Supreme Court.

• Jun 24, 2022

  The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

• Nov 8, 2022

  Republicans retake the House in the midterm elections.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Air Jordan 4 'Midnight Navy' is number 85 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (79 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Midnight Navy is not an OG colorway; none of the four 1989 Air Jordan 4s was navy.
• Its blocking is borrowed almost exactly from the 2016 White Cement retro.
• Pairs were in circulation more than three months before the official release date.
• The blue 4 it is most often mixed up with, the Military Blue, was renamed 'Industrial Blue' in 2024, but its box still said Military Blue.