Air Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined: Sneaker Release Date, Price, Where To Buy

The Air Jordan reimagined series continues on Saturday with an OG colorway of the OG Air Jordan, as the Air Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined drops for a retail price of $180.

As noted above, the Air Jordan 1 Royal is the latest classic to get the reimagined treatment, following in the footsteps of the Air Jordan 1 Lost and Found and Air Jordan 3 White Cement Reimagined. Like those releases, the Air Jordan 1 Royal was an OG colorway of the Air Jordan 1 back in 1985, but appears here with a twist — a mostly suede upper, mixed with nubuck, replacing what had been leather panels on the original. For comparison’s sake, below is a picture of the 2017 retro of the Air Jordan 1 Royal from its StockX page.

StockX

Now, even without holding these in hand, you can see that the Royal definitely looks different on the Reimagined. If anything it is much lighter, but since “reimagined” is right in the name of the release I suppose that’s fair game. Needless to say, no one is going to think you just un-DS’d a pair of 1985 originals when you throw the Royal Reimagineds on feet, but then again that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Air Jordan 1 Royal colorway has previously retroed in 2001, 2013 and 2017, so like the other reimagined models. Jordan Brand is looking to keep the spirit of the original while also bringing something different for those who may have purchased the colorway in the past. Afterall, how many times can you just hit command-C and laugh all the way to the bank?

Aside from the suede in place of leather, the Air Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined delivers everything you would expect from an Air Jordan 1 Royal. It sports a mostly black upper with royal hits on the top of the toe box, heel counter, collar wings and outsole. The midsole is white, and this feels like it could have been a place where Jordan Brand utilized an “aged” aesthetic as the brand did with the aforementioned Lost and Founds and White Cements. The shoe will come in a slightly modified Air Jordan 1 box, with royal blue replacing red for the Nike logo and secondary accents. The Royal Reimagineds will also come with two pairs of laces, one black and one royal blue.

At the end of the day, this is a classic Air Jordan 1 colorway, so it should be a fairly popular release. Nike/Jordan Brand anticipated this, and wanting to avoid a fiasco like they had with the Lost and Founds, offered an exclusive access drop in late October. The suede build, similar to the upcoming suede-for-leather swap in the other direction on the Air Jordan 4 Breds, will not be for everyone. I won’t lie, initially the brighter blue threw me off, but after seeing a pre-release review from the great WearTesters YouTube channel, I am actually feeling a bit better about them.

As noted above, there was an exclusive access drop in October, so the Royal Reimagineds are currently available on Stock X for a resale price of $194 on 1,652 sales for a 16% price premium. That exclusive access drop gives hope that supply will meet demand, but as well saw with the Lost and Founds last November, that is far from guaranteed. I don’t think these will be as popular as the Lost and Founds or the White Cement 3s, but I do think they will be relatively popular. Best of luck to all those looking to pick up a pair!

To see more of this month’s releases, check out our release date calendar.