Is This the 2023 Air Jordan 1 ‘Royal Reimagined’?

The past few years have seen some pretty gargantuan rumours when it comes to Jordan Brand – and even bigger releases to back them up. Across 2022 and 2023, they blessed us with two 1985 Air Jordan 1 OGs in the form of the ‘Chicago’ and ‘Black/White’. The AJ2 and AJ3 both received classic builds in ‘White Cement’ and ‘Chicago’. All these releases have come with the ‘Reimagined’ tagline and usually incorporate slight differences from the previous retros of these respective colourways.

When it comes to ‘Reimagined’ releases, the ever-turning sneaker rumour mill has been churning, and the latest to surface is the alleged Air Jordan 1 ‘Royal Reimagined’.

A historic iteration, the Air Jordan 1 ‘Royal’ was one of the original colourways created for the silhouette in 1985, and it has since been re-released four times in 1994, 2001, 2013, and 2017. It’s now allegedly returning in 2023 under the ‘Reimagined’ banner, and it looks like it will be quite different to the ‘Royal’ that we know and love. The major difference is that, instead of a full-leather upper, Jordan Brand have gone with luxe suede, and as this is a retro of a classic combo, we suspect the materials will be ,premium. Despite that drastic shake-up, the colour-blocking will remain the same, with a mostly black top half supported by a ‘Royal Blue’ and white midsole.