The original Air Jordan 5 was released in February 1990, designed by Tinker Hatfield. Some elements were the same from the Air Jordan 4, but these custom Air Jordans most distinctive feature is arguably its reflective tongue. There was also another innovation: clear rubber soles. The soles gave the shoe a whole new and unique look

The Air Jordan V also featured a base top with lace locks, making strapping on these custom kicks easy. The lacelock feature were partly inspired by the Air Jordan Spiz'ike. The Air Jordan V model is considered to have the best structure and design to wear during basketball games and sold the most pairs of shoes from the Air Jordans line.