FLOAT 100 · Sneakers · No. 36
KAWS x Air Jordan 4 'Cool Grey'
A Brooklyn street artist covered an entire Air Jordan 4, plastic parts included, in grey suede, hid his drawings under a glow-in-the-dark sole, and set off a release so frantic that police had to help keep order at a London raffle.
- Year
- 2017
- Maker
- Nike / Jordan Brand x KAWS
- By price in sneakers
- 35 of 100
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Create a free account- Official name
- Air Jordan 4 Retro KAWS
- Style code
- 930155-003
- Colorway
- Cool Grey/White
- Designer
- KAWS (Brian Donnelly) with Jordan Brand
- Retail price
- $350
- Release
- March 28, 2017, Greater China; March 31, 2017, worldwide
- Signature details
- All-suede upper including the wings and heel counter, embroidered Companion hands, 'XX' heel logo, translucent glow-in-the-dark outsole over KAWS artwork
- Included with the shoe
- KAWS hangtag, KAWS drawstring bag, KAWS/Jordan buyer card
- Follow-up
- A black version, 930155-001, released November 27, 2017, also at $350
- Production
- Not published
The artist from Jersey City
KAWS is Brian Donnelly, born November 4, 1974, in Jersey City, New Jersey. As a teenager he made up the name 'KAWS' because he liked the way the letters looked; the word means nothing. He studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, worked as an animator by day and painted graffiti by night, and in the 1990s began altering advertisements on billboards, bus shelters and phone booths with a key given to him by fellow artist Barry McGee.
His best-known character, Companion, dates to 1999: a grey, clownlike figure based on Mickey Mouse with X's for eyes and hands over its face. That year a Japanese company produced his first vinyl Companion toy. He went on to work with A Bathing Ape, ran his own brand, OriginalFake, with Medicom Toy, designed the cover of Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak in 2008, and by 2016 was making clothing with Uniqlo. He is based in Brooklyn.
By the time Jordan Brand called, KAWS had been relatively quiet in streetwear since OriginalFake closed in 2013, and his colorful sneakers with A Bathing Ape were years behind him. Jordan Brand's senior design director for special projects, Gemo Wong, explained the choice this way: 'Street art defies the traditional art canvas and can live anywhere. We look at our footwear design through the same lens, as an artistic expression on the streets.'
A Jordan made to be worn
KAWS said he deliberately avoided the loud pop style of his earlier sneakers. 'I wanted to make a shoe that I can wear,' he said. 'The other ones were more pop, but that was ten years ago. If you would've approached me on a different week, we would've had a very pop sneaker. When I first spoke to Gemo about doing this project, I was thinking about like making a good object.'
The Air Jordan 4, designed by Tinker Hatfield and introduced in 1989, normally mixes leather with mesh netting and molded plastic 'wings.' KAWS covered all of it in grey suede: the upper, the netting panels on the side and tongue, the wings and the heel counter. A mix of heathered and smooth textures runs through the suede, and his Companion character's hands are embroidered across it.
His 'XX' replaces the usual heel branding, and 'KAWS' lettering stands in where 'AIR JORDAN' would appear. The outsole is translucent rubber that glows in the dark, with sketches by the artist visible underneath. Even the lace tips carry an X, and the shoe came with a KAWS hangtag, a drawstring bag and a buyer card.
The tonal grey echoes the palette of some of KAWS's best-known Companion pieces. The shoe launched with an apparel capsule of a hoodie, a T-shirt, a five-panel cap and a satin coach's jacket.
Spring 2017: a release that got out of hand
KAWS announced the collaboration in January 2017. Leaked photos followed in February, then an official reveal in March. Michael Jordan and Brian Donnelly, as one announcement noted, both have Brooklyn roots.
The shoe released in Greater China on March 28, 2017, through a Nike draw in New York on March 29, and worldwide on March 31, at $350, in limited quantities at select Jordan Brand retailers. Some European shops sold pairs only by raffle. In London, police helped keep order at a streetwear shop's in-store raffle; one later account says the raffle had to be shut down for fear the crowd would riot. Some fans even got into KAWS's official website ahead of the release, hoping to buy early.
That week the artist also sold pairs at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Many fans had assumed the shoes would also go on sale that day on his website, and spent the day refreshing it. He answered on Instagram: 'I never mentioned product would be on my site today.' Jordan Brand's Gemo Wong told one outlet that 'some of my friends said that this is the biggest sneaker release ever.'
The timing mattered to Jordan Brand too. In late 2015 Kanye West had rapped that 'Yeezy [had] finally jumped over the Jumpman,' and adidas Yeezys were drawing much of the attention. A 2022 retrospective argued that the KAWS collaboration pulled the spotlight back toward Jordan.
After the drop
Eight months later, on Monday, November 27, 2017, a black version followed: style code 930155-001, 'Black/Black-Clear-Glow,' again $350, sold by lottery on KAWS's own website. Its terms said products were 'for personal use only and not for resale.' KAWS had said at the Brooklyn Museum launch that he hoped people would actually wear his shoes. By then the grey pair was trading for around $1,500 on the secondary market, according to a report that week.
Pairs of the grey shoe now turn up in unusual places. In June 2023 a like-new size 10, with its box, hangtag and authentication tag, was sold at a U.S. Marshals Service online auction of seized clothing and accessories, closing at $1,820 with no buyer's premium. In March 2024 a size 9.5 sold at auction for $2,858 against an estimate of $300 to $500.
On October 1, 2026, listed prices at one reseller ranged from $1,884 for a size 8 to $3,165 for a size 9.
KAWS's art market kept rising alongside the shoe. In May 2017, weeks after the release, the Museum of Modern Art's design store website crashed under demand for a $200 Companion figure. On April 1, 2019, his painting The KAWS Album (2005) sold at auction in Hong Kong for HK$115.9 million, about $14.7 million, an auction record for the artist at the time.
The numbers
- Style code
- 930155-003
- Colorway
- Cool Grey/White
- Retail price
- $350
- Release date
- March 31, 2017 (Greater China March 28)
- New York draw
- March 29, 2017, 6:30 p.m.
- Apparel capsule
- Hoodie, T-shirt, five-panel cap, satin coach's jacket
- Production
- Not published; released in limited quantities
Timeline
Brian Donnelly, later KAWS, is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The Air Jordan 4, designed by Tinker Hatfield, is introduced.
KAWS creates Companion and releases his first vinyl toy.
KAWS designs the cover of Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak.
KAWS's streetwear brand OriginalFake closes.
KAWS announces an official collaboration with Jordan Brand.
The KAWS x Air Jordan 4 releases in Greater China.
A Nike draw for the shoe opens in New York at 6:30 p.m.
Worldwide release at $350; KAWS says on Instagram that the shoe will not be sold on his website that day.
The Museum of Modern Art's design store website crashes under demand for a $200 KAWS Companion.
The black KAWS x Air Jordan 4 (930155-001) releases by lottery on KAWS's website.
The KAWS Album sells for about $14.7 million in Hong Kong, then a record for the artist.
Fifth anniversary of the release.
A size 10 pair sells for $1,820 at a U.S. Marshals Service online auction.
A size 9.5 pair sells at auction for $2,858, against a $300 to $500 estimate.
Listed prices at one reseller run from $1,884 to $3,165 depending on size.
The world in 2017
Donald Trump is sworn in as the 45th president.
About 2.9 million people join the Women's March, the largest single protest in U.S. history.
The president announces the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement.
The Golden State Warriors win the NBA title over Cleveland, going 16-1 in the postseason.
A total solar eclipse crosses the continental United States for the first time since 1918.
The Houston Astros win the World Series in seven games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 2017 | $350 | Asking price, not a saleOriginal retail price. |
| Jun 15, 2023 | $1,820 | Sold at auctionSize 10, like new with box; U.S. Marshals Service online auction, winning bid at close, no buyer's premium. |
| Mar 7, 2024 | $2,858 | Sold at auctionSize 9.5, online auction; estimate $300 to $500. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $1,884 | Asking price, not a saleSize 8, lowest listed price at one reseller. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $3,165 | Asking price, not a saleSize 9, listed price at the same reseller. |
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, KAWS x Air Jordan 4 'Cool Grey' is number 35 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 (36 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Even the Air Jordan 4's plastic side wings and heel counter are covered in suede on this shoe.
- The translucent outsole glows in the dark and shows KAWS's sketches underneath.
- KAWS said that on a different week he might have made 'a very pop sneaker' instead.
- Police helped keep order at a London shop's in-store raffle for the shoe.
- The name 'KAWS' means nothing; Donnelly chose it for how the letters looked.
- A pair sold at a U.S. Marshals Service auction of seized goods in 2023.
- A size 9.5 sold in 2024 for more than five times its high estimate.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 1, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026