FLOAT 100 · Sneakers · No. 33
Union LA x Air Jordan 4 'Guava Ice'
A shortened, stitched-down tongue that sneaker fans first mocked turned out to be a childhood trick you could snip loose, and the pastel pair Union kept for its own customers never went to the wider release.
- Year
- 2020
- Maker
- Nike / Jordan Brand x Union LA
- By price in sneakers
- 64 of 100
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Create a free account- Official name
- Air Jordan 4 Retro SP, Union LA 'Guava Ice'
- Style code
- DC9533-800
- Colorway
- Guava Ice/Light Bone-Brigade Blue-Light Fusion Red
- Designer
- Chris Gibbs, owner of Union Los Angeles, with Jordan Brand
- Collection
- Union's 2020 'Sophomore Album' collection: two Air Jordan 4s, a Jordan Delta Mid and a Jordan Zoom '92
- Signature detail
- Tongue folded down and stitched in place; cut the stitching and it springs back to full height
- Release
- August 29, 2020, through Union
- Retail price
- $250
- Availability
- Union exclusive; the sister 'Off Noir' (DC9533-001) was scheduled for a wider SNKRS release
- Production
- Not published by Nike
Union's second album
Union Los Angeles, the streetwear shop owned since 2010 by Chris Gibbs, made its first Jordan Brand sneakers in 2018: a pair of Air Jordan 1s that stitched the collar of one original colorway onto the body of another. They were mocked at their debut, then sold out and came to be counted among the best collaborations on the Air Jordan 1 High. After an apparel collection in 2019, Union and Jordan Brand returned to sneakers in 2020.
Gibbs told Complex the shop was 'circling the wagons around the Jordan 4s', and Union teased the project on social media with 'Soon...' and 'Gotta do your googles'. On August 6, 2020, Union unveiled what it called its 'Sophomore Album' collection: two colorways of the Air Jordan 4 plus a Jordan Delta Mid and a Jordan Zoom '92, all due on August 29 through Union's own Jordan website.
The two Air Jordan 4s split the same way the Air Jordan 1s had. 'Off Noir' (DC9533-001), in black with sail, red, blue and white accents, was planned for a worldwide release. 'Guava Ice' (DC9533-800), in pastel pink, pale yellow and bone with blue and red accents, was a Union exclusive.
The tongue everyone hated, then loved
The defining detail is the tongue. On Union's Air Jordan 4 it is folded down and stitched in place, so the shoe sits lower and shows a shortened, perforated tongue. Gibbs took the idea from his own childhood: as a kid he turned the tongues of his Air Jordan 4s down for a different look.
When early images leaked, the shorter tongue was widely ridiculed. The mood flipped once people learned the stitching was meant to be removable: cut it and the tongue pops back up to its normal height, so the owner chooses which shoe to wear. Release coverage credited that customization, along with the materials, for turning the reaction around.
Union also reworked the materials. Release reports said the shoe used thick, plush suede of the kind used on Birkenstock sandals, and a mesh made to look like 1980s sneaker netting. The color blocking borrowed the black, white, red and blue mix of Union's Air Jordan 1s.
A Jordan summer in a pandemic year
The pair arrived in an unusual year for anything Jordan. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. From April 19 to May 17, ESPN aired 'The Last Dance', the documentary series about Michael Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls, while much of the audience was at home.
The model Union chose has its own place in that story. Tinker Hatfield designed the Air Jordan 4, which Nike released to the public in December 1988 as the first Air Jordan sold on the global market. Jordan wore it when he hit 'The Shot', the series-winning jumper against Cleveland in Game 5 of the 1989 first round, and Spike Lee featured it in 'Do the Right Thing' and in Nike's ads.
One drop, then the vault
The 'Sophomore Album' collection launched on August 29, 2020, through Union, with each Air Jordan 4 at $250. A wider release of 'Off Noir', the Delta Mid and the Zoom '92 was then announced for Nike's SNKRS app on September 30, 2020, and pushed back on September 17 to October 16.
Reports differed on whether 'Guava Ice' would get a second release. In early September one release site said a SNKRS launch was expected, but on September 16, 2020, another reported that the Air Jordan 4 'Guava Ice' 'will stay in the vault as it was a Union exclusive'.
Release-guide pages still list it at the original $250 retail. On October 1, 2026, the lowest listing at one resale shop was $493, for a single size, with other sizes listed up to $2,137.
How to identify it
Check for the style code DC9533-800 and the colorway Guava Ice/Light Bone-Brigade Blue-Light Fusion Red. A resale listing describes vintage-style yellow netting on the side panels and tongue; brushed suede on the mudguard, toe cap and eyelets; white and red engineered mesh at the toe and collar; pink plastic lace clips with a clear lace-support piece; and a blue heel tab with red 'Nike Air'. A release guide instead describes pink suede with light yellow mesh, so expect photos to show both pink and sand tones.
Other markers: a 'UN/LA' tag on the outer side, 'Air Jordan' on the tongue, and the stitched-down tongue, unless an owner has cut it loose. The sister 'Off Noir' (DC9533-001) uses the same construction in Off Noir/Brigade Blue-Dark Smoke Grey-Light Fusion Red. Nike has not published production numbers for either.
Where it led
Union and Jordan Brand returned to the Air Jordan 4 in 2021 with the 'Taupe Haze' and 'Desert Moss' pair for Union's 30th anniversary, keeping the stitched tongue and plastic Wings logo. They followed with a pair of Air Jordan 2s in 2022, an Air Jordan AJKO 1 Low, and a 'Summer of 96' Air Jordan 1 made with Bephie's Beauty Supply in August 2023.
The later pairs repeated the 2020 formula: the stitched tongue and premium materials, and, as with 'Guava Ice' and 'Off Noir', one Union-only colorway alongside a wider release ('Taupe Haze' was the Union exclusive in 2021).
The numbers
- Style code
- DC9533-800
- Colorway
- Guava Ice/Light Bone-Brigade Blue-Light Fusion Red
- Release date
- August 29, 2020, through Union
- Retail price
- $250
- Release type
- Union exclusive; not part of the later SNKRS release
- Sister colorway
- 'Off Noir', DC9533-001; SNKRS release moved from September 30 to October 16, 2020
- Production
- Not published by Nike
Timeline
Nike releases the Tinker Hatfield-designed Air Jordan 4 to the public.
Michael Jordan wears the Air Jordan 4 when he hits 'The Shot' against Cleveland.
Chris Gibbs takes over Union Los Angeles.
Union's first Jordan sneaker, the Air Jordan 1 'Storm Blue', releases; 'Black Toe' follows on November 24.
Union and Jordan Brand release an apparel collection.
Union unveils the 'Sophomore Album' collection: two Air Jordan 4s, a Delta Mid and a Zoom '92.
'Guava Ice' (DC9533-800) and 'Off Noir' release through Union at $250 each.
A SNKRS release of 'Off Noir', the Delta Mid and the Zoom '92 is announced for September 30; 'Guava Ice' is reported to stay a Union exclusive.
The SNKRS release is pushed back to October 16, 2020.
The wider 'Off Noir' release is scheduled for SNKRS.
Union's 30th-anniversary Air Jordan 4s, 'Taupe Haze' and 'Desert Moss', keep the stitched tongue.
Union releases the 'Summer of 96' Air Jordan 1 with Bephie's Beauty Supply.
Lowest listed price at one resale shop is $493 for a single size.
The world in 2020
Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others die in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.
The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic.
'The Last Dance', the documentary series on Michael Jordan's final Bulls season, begins airing on ESPN; it runs to May 17.
An ammonium nitrate explosion devastates the port of Beirut, killing at least 218 people.
Bayern Munich beats Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 to win the Champions League.
Africa is declared free of wild polio.
Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, announces his resignation.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 2020 | $250 | Asking price, not a saleRetail price at release. |
| Oct 1, 2026 | $493 | Asking price, not a saleLowest listed price for a new pair at one resale shop, men's size 9.5; other sizes listed from $528 to $2,137. |
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, Union LA x Air Jordan 4 'Guava Ice' is number 64 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 (33 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The folded tongue copies how Chris Gibbs wore his own Air Jordan 4s as a kid.
- Cut the stitching and the tongue springs back up, turning it into a conventional Air Jordan 4.
- Release reports said Union used thick suede of the kind found on Birkenstock sandals.
- The same 'Guava Ice' palette appeared on a Jordan Zoom '92 in the collection, a model mixing elements of the Air Jordan 7, Air Max 180 and Air Force 5.
- When the rest of the collection went to SNKRS, 'Guava Ice' was reported to 'stay in the vault'.
- Union's first teaser for the shoe was a social post telling fans to 'do your googles'.
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