How To Spot Fake Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha (2024)

Written by
Ch David
aj1 dark mocha fake vs real guide

Last Updated on April 23, 2024 by Ch David

This guide teaches you how to spot fake Dark Mocha Jordan 1s — the “regular” version of the Travis Scott Jordan 1.

How to tell if Dark Mocha 1s are Real or Fake

To tell if your Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha is fake or real, you should check the label inside the tongue. If the text is misaligned and very thin, you’re 100% looking at a fake pair.

1. Interior tongue label

  • The “SWOOSH” text in the top-right corner of the fake label is too thick.
  • The same text isn’t straight, as its letters look wavy instead of being aligned on a straight line.
    • The fake pair has letters of different sizes in the “SWOOSH” text: the first letters are too small, and the last three letters are too big.
    • On the other hand, the authentic Dark Mocha Air Jordan 1s have their “SWOOSH” text at the same thickness for every letter.
    • On top of that, the authentic pair also has all of its letters at the same size and shape so as not to wave, unlike the fake pair’s text.
  • The fake pair’s “GUARANTEE” text has different thicknesses for its letters.
    • The letter “R” is too thin.
    • Though, the rest of them are way thicker than needed.
  • The “MARQUES” text is too thick on the fake pair.
  • The “M” and “A” in “MARQUES” are also waving — they’re not placed correctly on the label.
  • On the lower side of the interior tongue label, the “SWOOSH ®” text is too thick and wavy.
  • The fake pair has its “MADE IN CHINA” text looking too thick, but also too big.

On the original Dark Mocha Jordan 1s, all of their letters have the same thickness and they’re placed in a straight line.

Expert Legit Check - Let our team look at your Jordans:

2. Hourglass shape

The authentic shoes must look like an hourglass from the rear side:

When you are holding the authentic Dark Mocha Air Jordan 1s from the rear side, you are going to see how they are curvy at the top and at the bottom, and how they are also narrowing into the middle of the shoes.

2.1. Comparsion

  • The problem with the fake shoes is that in some cases, they don’t replicate this shape properly.
  • The fake Dark Mocha Jordan 1 is almost like a tube as it is straight, instead of being curvy, just like the legit shoes.

A correct shape means that the shoes are curvy and bumpy at the top and at the bottom and that they have a narrowing in the middle of the shoes, therefore looking like an hourglass.

The original Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pair has its shape correctly defined: curves a lot at the top and at the bottom, and becomes narrower in the middle.

We’re not going to deny that the fake shoes are curved, because they are indeed, but not enough. They’re not curved like the legit shoes’ shape, which is visibly clearly more accentuated.

2.2. Detailed look

  • The authentic shoes are properly curved, as they bump much more than the fake pair.
  • The counterfeit Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha have a shape less curvy.
  • The fake shoes almost don’t even curve, as they look too straight when compared to the authentic pair.

Please keep in mind that the hourglass shape won’t be visible when the shoes are on foot! The shape can be visible when the shoes are not worn by somebody (only when they are off-foot).

3. Toe box

  • The fake Dark Mocha 1s have their toe box bigger than the legit shoe’s toe box.
  • In fact, the fake pair’s toe box looks over-inflated, as it is too bulky.

The authentic Dark Mochas have their toe box looking thin and “deflated”, being thinner than the fake one.

4. Suede effect

On an authentic pair, when you draw a line with your finger on the suede part of the shoes, the previously touched area must darken and leave a trace.

In most cases, fake pairs don’t darken and leave traces due to the quality of the material. Even if they do, they are too “weak” as they don’t darken up as much as the legit pair.

  • The fake pair has its suede just a tiny bit moved, but not as much as the legit pair’s suede.
  • The fake suede is too static and it doesn’t get darken upon touching.

The authentic Dark Mocha Air Jordan 1s have their suede moving more, as it looks blurry in the area that it wasn’t touched.

The real pair’s suede also looks darker and it shows traces in the areas where it was touched.

A quick mention:

  • The steps we’ve written so far are the BEST ways to authenticate this item
  • The next few steps are still reliable methods…
  • … but they apply to non-top-versions of replicas available for this item

If in doubt, we recommend double-checking the steps we’ve explained above this line.

5. Air Jordan logo text

  • The fake pair’s “AIR” text, is too wide.
  • In the fake pair’s “JORDAN” print, the letters are too wide and also too thick.
  • The fake “TM” text looks too thick and too boxy, as the letter “M” is even a bit too hard to read.

The “TM” text on the authentic Air Jordan 1 Brown pair is thinner than the text on the fake pair.

5. Air Jordan logo wings

  • The fake Dark Mohca AJ1 pair has wings with an improper amount of space between them.
  • The fake wings in the logo have too much space between them.

What we still need to remind ourselves about the wings is that the authentic Dark Mocha 1s must have the same amount of space between each wing! 

The legit pairs will always match each other when it comes to this detail, unlike the fake Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pairs.

7. Swoosh

  • The fake pair has its logo looking too small and too thick.
  • The thickness of the fake shoes’ Nike Swoosh logo is caused because it comes out of the shoes too much.
  • Therefore, the fake Swoosh looks too big and not as sharp as the real one.

On the other hand, the legitimate Air Jordan 1 Dark Mochas have their Nike Swoosh logo looking bigger, sharper and more defined than the fake pair’s logo.

8. Perforations

  • The fake sneakers have their toe box’s perforation holes looking too small and narrow.

On the other hand, the authentic Dark Mocha 1s have their perforations looking bigger, wider and basically larger than the fake pair’s perforations.

9. Exterior tongue label

  • The fake pair has its “AIR” text looking too thick.
  • Since the letters are too thick, they are automatically placed too close to each other.

Talking about the real Jordan 1 Dark Mocha, you can see how they have their “AIR” text looking thinner and with less space between the letters, as they look airier and less crowded than the fake shoes’ text.

10. Rear patch

air jordan 1 dark mocha real vs fake
  • The fake patch looks too boxy and short.

On the other hand, the patch found on the legitimate Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pair looks “taller” and less boxy than the fake pair’s patch.

11. Cross stitching

  • The fake pair has thinner stitches.
  • The cross stitching on the fake pair is too close to the Swoosh.

On the other hand, the authentic shoes have their cross-stitching looking thicker than the fake pair’s stitching and are also placed a bit further away from the Nike Swoosh logo.

Shortlist: Spot fake Dark Mocha 1s in 60 seconds

  1. Check the interior tongue label with multiple lines of text. Every Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha replica has its text wavily positioned and at the wrong thickness, and the authentic pairs must always have their inscriptions flawless.
  2. Look at the hourglass shape from the rear side of your shoes. The fake Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pairs usually have their shape too straight.
  3. Verify the toe box of your Air Jordan 1 Dark Mochas. In most cases, the fake Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pairs have their toe box looking over-inflated.
  4. Brief the suede effect on the AJ1 Dark Mocha shoes. The authentic shoes must have their suede moving and leaving traces after being touched, and most of the fake pairs don’t have this effect after touching them.
  5. Look at the “Air Jordan TM” text in the classic Air Jordan 1 logo of your shoes. Usually, the fake Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pairs have their text at the wrong thickness.
  6. Inspect the space between the wings in the classic Air Jordan 1 logo of your shoes. Mostly, the fake AJ1 Dark Mocha pairs have their wings either placed too close to each other or too far away from each other.
  7. Analyze the Nike Swoosh logo found on the side of your shoes. In most cases, the fake pairs have their logo too small and thick.
  8. Look at the toe box and its perforations. Usually, the fake pairs have their holes looking too small and narrow on the toe box.
  9. Check the exterior tongue badge of your shoes. The fake Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha pairs commonly have their “AIR” text too thick.
  10. Verify the patch on the back of the shoes, where the Nike Swoosh logos meet together. The fake pairs usually have their patch looking too boxy.
  11. Examine the cross-stitching on the side of your shoes, as most of the fake pairs have their stitching looking too thin and also placed too close to the Nike Swoosh logo.

The 11 detailed steps outlined above might not be so practical when you are in a hurry or when you want to buy sneakers online.

That is why we have compiled this quick 60-second solution to authenticating your sneakers.

Expert Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha Authentication

If you need help with the authentication of your Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha we’ve got you covered.

All you have to do is send us good-quality pictures of your Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha sneakers and we will get back to you with the results within 24 to 48 hours. The results will also come with a report on why we believe your sneakers are fake or authentic.

That brings us to the end of our real vs fake Air Jordan 1 Dark Mocha legit check guide. We will continue to update this article as better and newer comparisons are put out.

Need our opinion on your item’s authenticity? It’s a service we provide.

Get a fully-detailed report for why you have a real or fake item. Takes less than 48 hours!

Alternatively, use our free resources: written guides and video tutorials.

Thank you for reading this,

Ch Daniel and Ch David

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About the Author

David is the co-founder and co-CEO of Legit Check By Ch. David's experience: 5+ years of creating educational content in the fashion industry. 6+ years of authenticating luxury items. Currently, David is the Head Editor of the LCBC Library, where 1,000,000+ words have been published, in free guides, for over 1,000 items.
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