The Air Jordan 19 released in 2004 and modeled after the black mamba snake, is the first custom Jordan release after his third, and final, retirement which came after the 2002-2003 NBA season. The Air Jordan XIX used innovative materials. The upper section of shoe was developed in collaboration with Material ConneXion Inc. from a sleeving normally used in architectural applications for protecting PVC pipes from bursting. This allowed for a lace-less shoe because the sleeving does not stretch.