How to Spot a Fake Air Jordan 11: Concord, Bred, Space Jam

Why the Jordan 11 Size Label Is the Tell

Most Jordan 11 advice stops at the shiny parts: the patent leather shape, the carbon fibre plate, the icy or yellowed sole, the "45" on the heel. Those are the parts replica factories have spent years perfecting, and they are the least useful checks on a pair you can hold. The part they get wrong most often is a small white label sewn inside the shoe, under the tongue or along the inner collar.

That size label carries a style code, two production dates, a country of origin, a UPC number and a layout that changed over the years. For a given release, all of those have to agree with each other. A genuine 2018 Concord reads one way. A genuine 2019 Bred reads another. A genuine 2016 Space Jam reads a third. In the pairs we examined, fakes often get one of those fields wrong because the factory copied a label from a different release, a different year or a different country of production.

This guide covers the three adult retros that circulate most in resale: the Concord (2018), the Bred (2019) and the Space Jam (2016), with a short note on the Gamma Blue. It is a label guide, and it says plainly what a label can and cannot prove. For the general method, see our Air Jordan 1 guide, which covers the stitching and shape checks that apply across the line.

How to Read a Jordan 11 Size Label

Open the shoe and find the label on the inside of the tongue or collar. On an adult pair, read these fields in order.

• Size block: US, UK, EUR and cm. Check that the four sizes agree with each other.
• Style code: six digits, a hyphen and three more, for example 378037-100. Adult Jordan 11 retros of this era share the 378037 prefix and differ in the last three digits. Youth pairs use 378038 on the labels we examined.
• Two dates: printed as month, day and two-digit year (05/16/18). They sit on either side of the style code or below the size block, depending on the layout.
• Made in: country in English and French on the barcode layout, in four languages on the QR layout.
• UPC: a 12 to 14 digit number under or beside the barcode.
• Layout: the older labels carry a linear barcode. The 2019 Bred label carries a QR code instead.

Here is how the releases line up. The retail codes for the three releases come from release coverage and retailer listings; the older codes are what we read off genuine labels, so treat them as "on the labels we examined".

The Concord was released on 8 December 2018 and the Bred on 14 December 2019, which is why genuine dates for those pairs sit months earlier in the same year. The 2016 Space Jam code, 378037-003, is the one in release listings; the older rows come from labels we examined, not from an outside source.

Style Code and Dates Must Match the Release

This is the strongest label check, because it is a comparison, not a memory test. Look up the release the listing claims, then check the style code and both dates against the table above.

The mismatches we saw on fake pairs fall into a few patterns:

• A Concord labelled with the wrong code, such as 378037-101 instead of 378037-100.
• A Concord carrying 378037-107, the code of the 2011 release, with dates from 2019.
• A Bred carrying 130245-062 (the code on a genuine 1990s original, made in Taiwan) on a label dated 2012 or 2013.
• A Bred 2019 code (378037-061) with dates in 2022, years after the real production window.
• A Bred label showing 378037-010, the 2012 code, with 2019 dates, or a Concord code printed on a Bred.
• Space Jam labels with dates outside the 2016 window, from 2010, 2014 and 2015.

Made in Vietnam on These Retros

On the labels we examined, every adult genuine label of the 2018 Concord, the 2019 Bred and the 2016 Space Jam said Made in China. Made in Vietnam turned up on a good share of the fake labels for those same releases, usually together with a code or date problem from the section above.

This is specific to these retros and says nothing about Jordan production in general. Nike makes shoes in several countries and other Jordan models and releases are made in Vietnam. Do not carry this rule to a different shoe.

Label Layout Must Match the Era

The 2018 Concord and 2016 Space Jam labels we examined use a linear barcode with the UPC beneath it. The 2019 Bred label uses a QR code, with the style code and UPC above it and the four-language origin block on the left. A barcode label on a 2019 Bred, or a QR label on a 2018 Concord, does not match the release.

We saw this on a fake 2018 Concord that used the QR layout of the later labels. It is a useful tell, but a weaker one than the code, because fakes that copy a full label copy its layout too.

UPC Family Must Match the Colorway

The UPC number belongs to the colorway. On the genuine Space Jam labels we examined, the UPC began 0088850726. Most of the fake Gamma Blue labels we read carried a UPC from the wrong family for that colorway. The UPC is hard to check from memory, so use it as a cross-reference: compare it with a genuine label of the same colorway, and treat a different family as a strong hint.

Repeated Template Dates and UPC Numbers

Several fake labels we examined shared the same date strings and the same UPC family, 0088341924, across different releases. One fake Bred label and one fake Space Jam label carried an identical UPC and an identical internal number. That UPC family is the one we read off a genuine 2011 Concord label. It suggests a factory reusing a single label template across colorways.

This is a supporting sign. If you are comparing two pairs of the same seller, or the label looks suspiciously like one you have seen on a different colorway, it adds weight to other problems. A single pair with a clean unique-looking label is not cleared by it.

Concord 2018, Bred 2019, Space Jam 2016: What to Check

Concord (2018). Retail code 378037-100, released 8 December 2018. Genuine labels we examined read China, barcode layout, dates between May and September 2018. Fakes we saw used 378037-101, the 2011 code 378037-107, QR labels on a barcode-era pair, and Vietnam.

Bred (2019). Retail code 378037-061, released 14 December 2019. Genuine labels read China, QR layout and dates between March and August 2019. Fakes used Vietnam, the 2012 code 378037-010 and the Concord code 378037-100, and one fake with the right code carried 2022 dates.

Space Jam (2016). Retail code 378037-003. Genuine labels read China, barcode layout, UPC starting 0088850726, dates May to September 2016. Fakes used Vietnam, dates in 2010, 2014 and 2015, and the shared 0088341924 UPC family.

Gamma Blue (2013 on the labels we examined). Code 378037-006, China, barcode. Of the fake labels we read, most carried a UPC from the wrong family.

Cool Grey, Legend Blue, Cap and Gown. We cannot give a label verdict. The 2021 Cool Grey uses a different code format (CT8012-005) and a QR label, and the only readable fake label we saw was a perfect copy of it. Cap and Gown (378037-005) and Legend Blue have too little fake comparison to say anything reliable.

What Fakes Copy Correctly

A good label proves nothing. We saw fakes with a complete, correctly formatted label for the right release, the right code, the right country and plausible dates. If the label passes, the shoe is not cleared; you move on to construction and, where you cannot judge it yourself, to someone who can.

Everything people usually quote as a Jordan 11 tell is also copied. Compare the two outsoles below.

Purple Outsole and Sole Yellowing

A genuine 2018 Concord has violet traction pods, and the clear rubber yellows with age. Fakes we examined looked the same. A purple tint is not a tell, and neither is yellowing. Yellowing mostly tells you the pair has been worn or stored for years, and it can be faked or reversed.

Heel 45, Patent Shape, Carbon Plate and Tongue Patch

The "45" on the heel, the patent leather shape, the carbon fibre plate and the tongue patch reading "Quality basketball products inspired by the greatest player ever" are all copied by fakes. They are worth a glance, but they do not separate real from fake. Do not make a buying decision on them.

Buying and Selling Checklist

• Ask for a clear, in-focus photo of the whole size label, not a crop. Make sure the text is readable.
• Check the style code against the release: 378037-100 for the 2018 Concord, 378037-061 for the 2019 Bred, 378037-003 for the 2016 Space Jam.
• Check both dates against the release year. Dates years before or after the release do not fit.
• Check the country. Vietnam on these three retros is a fake sign.
• Check the layout: barcode on the Concord and Space Jam, QR on the 2019 Bred.
• Compare the UPC with the colorway and size.
• Do not rely on the outsole colour, the heel "45", the patent shape or the tongue patch.
• Reject adult pairs where the label reads like a youth label (378038) or a different release.

One failed label check on these retros is enough to walk away. A label that passes only means you have not found the problem yet.

When to Get a Professional Opinion

Label checks catch lazy fakes. They do not catch a factory that has copied a full, correct label, and we have seen exactly that. For a pair you are about to pay serious money for, have it checked from photos by someone who looks at Jordan 11s every day.

LuxeDetect sneaker authentication has a 24-hour option and returns a verdict with a Certificate of Authenticity. Submit your Jordan 11 for authentication. For other Nike models, see our Nike Dunk guide and the general sneaker authentication guide.

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