This year saw Jordan Brand dig into their archive to once again revive a famed silhouette that signalled the beginning of Jordan and Nikes relationship. First worn on the courts way back in ’84, the Air Ship was the brain child of Bruce Kilgore, the man who had previously designed the Air Force 1. 

Following the Air Force 1’s simplistic and straight forward design concept, the Air Ship was the first shoe worn by MJ on the court and began the story that led on to the iconic Air Jordan 1. After a re-release in 2020 with the ‘New Beginnings’ pack, Jordan return once again to where the story began with a series of simple colour options. 

Moving away from the court, we celebrate the story of Michael Jordan and his success off the court with his business and community ventures. With that in mind, we look to our local community and pick out individuals who are doing eye-catching things within their community to celebrate them. First up, Curtis, otherwise known as ‘The Local Honeyman’. 

Take a closer look at our visit to his studio in London below and make sure to check out the Jordan Air Ship online here!

Footpatrol: Hey Curtis, thanks so much for joining us at Footpatrol. First of all, how have you been? 

Curtis: I have beeeen amazing thanks! Excited for the new honey bee season to kick in, it’s always an entertaining time of year for us beekeepers. Flowers starting to bloom, bee’s getting their buzz on outside the hives and Local Honey Man honey starting to flow, what more could you want!

FP: It’s great to see such passion from someone when it comes to their work. Can you share a bit more information with our audience on how you got to becoming a Beekeeper? 

Curtis: Looking back on it now it was an interesting journey that started a while ago. My Uncle ignited my fascination for honey bees when I was 15 years old, he would take me down to his Hives on a nature reserve most Sundays. It really blew my mind and was world’s away from my life growing up in Hackney. My passion for bee keeping continued to grow throughout different chapters of my life, eventually blooming into the existence of Local Honey Man and the rest is Bee-story…hehe

FP: We saw that you were originally within the world of Investment banking, this seems a world away from that previous career choice, did you notice any health benefits from this switch up whether its health or mentally?

Curtis: Yes, massive mental health benefits, when I was working all the hours God sends in banking, stress was on 10; I use to look forward to going down to the apiaries for some stress relief. Now its my every and any day.  Beekeeping really helped with my mental health and being able to relax my mind daily. Anyone can learn to become a Beekeeper and improve their mental health just like me.

I’m actually so blessed now to have an amazing team around me that can look after Local Honey Man’s Day to day activities, allowing me time to create my own day and enjoy the sweet successes of running a business. Needleless to say the physical health benefits of consuming our raw honey are phenomenal, clearly documented on our website, in our education or blog section, check it out.

FP: Not only to meet yourself but I guess one of the main reasons we’re catching up with you today is because of what’s on your feet… The Jordan Air Ship. Built on Jordan’s successes both on and off court, we’re celebrating those doing great things within their local communities. So on that note, why is your local community so important to you?

Curtis: My local community was one of the reasons I wanted to run a local business, enabling me hire people locally and provide a great product that can benefit people and the environment. I have recently initiated a new charity in the area called Bee-Prolific, which will be helping local youngsters to gain an understanding of beekeeping, the retail of honey and generally how to utilise business and customer service skills.

FP: Thought the hits of yellow made this the perfect colour way for you as well, don’t you agree?

Curtis: Yes reminds me of a field of sunflowers blooming in the spring, which the bees simply love (the honey isn’t bad either)

FP: I think we all take our furry little buzzing friends for granted, can you explain the process for honey extraction and just how important to our eco-system bees actually are? 

Curtis: I’ll try and honey coat this answer as it could easily be a very lengthy one. Bees are beyond important to our eco-system they are nothing short of vital. As for the Honey extraction it can be an intense sticky time of year! We get through it with timely logistics so the honey doesn’t set in the comb, dedicated steady hands and a little help from the machinery in our honey processing rooms. And of course never forgetting to leave plenty of honey for the bees to see them through the winter season.

FP: Come on then… what makes a good honey?

Curtis: buying it from Local Honey Man…lol…seriously though, making sure your honey comes direct from a beekeeper and its not heat treated to stay liquid and runny, that’s not honey’s natural state once it drops below the heated environment of a Hive, around a cosy 32 degrees. We try to keep it as close to its natural form as possible, sweet thick and full of health benefits, a spoon a day keeps the doctor away!

FP: What are your current top 3, go to honeys at the moment? 

Curtis: I use ginger infused honey to give me a morning boost, cup of water and spoon of honey in the morning, gets me started for the day. Borage honey in my coffee, Golden honey will be my best friend for the next 7 months as I suffer badly with hay fever. A multi-floral honey like our British Golden honey will remove all my hay fever symptoms. No more itchy eyes, running nose and sore throats thanks to Local Honey Man honey

FP: What’s next for Local Honey Man? 

Curtis: Take over the world, one honey jar at a time! Watch this space…

FP: Thank you for taking the time to have us down, and just want to open the floor for any words of encouragement to those looking to break into the honey industry or even just any words on how we can preserve and help in the preservation of our hard working, buzzy friends. 

Curtis:  Keep planting flowers so our little furry friend’s have more options and food sources to forage from, we can all play a role, no matter how small…if we all did a little bit, it would make a big difference!