Initial Impressions, Nike / Jordan, Sneakers

Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined: Close Enough

November 12, 2023November 12, 2023 by 100wears

Price: $180

Why Buy?

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined offers a classic colorway, with materials that have some benefits over the original.

Why Avoid?

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined isn’t as OG as you might want, and the materials can cause problems in winter for some.

Specs

Model	Jordan 1 High OG
Height	High
Materials	Suede / Nubuck? / PU / Rubber
Size	13
Weight	575 g / 1 lb 4.2 oz
Construction	Cemented and Stitched Cup Sole
Country of Origin	China

History

I’m going to paint a picture for you. Imagine a Jordan 1, in an original colorway. Bred color blocking, and – if we are being honest with ourselves for a moment – an easier color to wear than red. If I told you about this, you’d probably be thinking these would be impossible to get. However, the Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined are sitting in every single size.

Why? Well, as I’m sure you heard by now since it’s been the number one story in the sneaker world, these are made of suede.

It’s part of Jordan Brand’s “reimagined” line. Where they take an OG model and change something to make it different. Previously it was faux gaining on the Jordan 1 Lost and Found and Jordan 3. Here and on next year’s Jordan 4, it’s material.

While like many of you I’d really rather Jordan Brand just give us what we want, I knew I had to take a look at this pair and see if it’s deserving of all the hate it’s getting. After all, haven’t we all be asking for the ability to just go on Nike.com and order great colorways?

Let’s dive in and see if the Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined is worth picking up.

Looks

Upper

The upper of the Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined comes in what is typically referred to as the bred color blocking. This means the majority of the sneaker – the toe guard, midfoot panel, tongue, etc. – are made up of a black color. The rest – the toe box, swoosh, heel and ankle panels – are the color, in this case a royal blue.

While I personally prefer the Chicago color blocking, a lot of people view the bred layout as the best.

The upper material is, of course, not standard leather. The blue sections are a mid-length suede and the black materials are either a nubuck or a sanded suede. Nubuck is leather that is sanded down, and suede is a split of leather where the inside faces outwards. Nubuck is technically more durable, but on a sneaker like a Jordan 1, it isn’t going to make a big difference.

For as much hate as these are getting, I was pretty surprised once I got these out of the box. I’m typically not a fan of primarily black sneakers, the details that set one apart from another tends to get washed out. The nubuck texture prevents this, and helps give depth.

Elsewhere, the sneaker features an embossed wings logo on the ankle, and a polyester lining. Nike stitching isn’t always the best, but looking over this pair I wasn’t able to find anything to complain about.

Mid and Outsole

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined outsole doesn’t change the standard of pretty much every other Jordan 1, and that’s a good thing.

A textured white midsole – held on with white stitching – is attached to blue rubber outsole. The outsole features the Jordan 1 traction pattern we all know and love. Circular rings coming from the pivot point under the ball of your foot, blocks in the back, and a Nike logo in the middle.

It’s a traction pattern that provides great grip while also being extremely durable. Nothing to complain about here.

Summary

As far as looks go, the Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined is a lot better than I was expecting. Would all leather have been better? Probably. However, the suede look has its benefits.

For me, the biggest is that you can really see the details in the sneaker. If we are being honest with ourselves, the differences between the Jordan 1, Dunk, Terminator, etc. are all pretty minor. With black leather the small changes that separate them gets lost. The texture of these help keep that definition.

The suede in the fall/winter (when these released) is also a double-edged sword. Sure, cheaper suede like this doesn’t hold up to winter weather as well as leather does, but soft textures are exactly what winter fits call for. It isn’t a coincidence that the Gore-Tex Jordan 1s, Timbs, etc. are all nubuck.

I liked these in hand way more than I was expecting from a style perspective.

Fit & Comfort

Fit

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined fits exactly the same as every other Jordan 1 High OG. That is to say, a little bit narrow and a little bit long. The suede makes these a little bit more forgiving, but since the Jordan 1 uses a cup sole there really isn’t much in the way of give where the majority of your foot rests.

If you have really wide feet you might want to consider going up half a size from what you typically wear, but most people will be good in their go-to sneaker size.

I take these in a size 13, which is what I wear in almost every sneaker. For a full list of sizing for every shoe reviewed on this site, click here.

Comfort

The Jordan 1 is nearly 40 years old, and it shows. The comfort isn’t great, especially to most sneakers that have come out in the last 10 years or so.

Arch support is effectively zero, and the total padding you get is close to that as well.

Any Jordan 1 – including the Royal Reimagined – should not be your first pick if you are looking to maximize comfort.

Materials & Construction

Materials

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined differs from a typical Royal due to the materials on the upper, so let’s start there. All of the blue panels are made up of suede. If you’re not familiar with suede, most leather is tanned and then “split.” Or, in other words, the leather panel is cut in half length wise. The top (known as top grain leather) is then used in things like wallets and handbags. The bottom (known as suede) is what is used here.

As for the black panels, that’s a bit more of a mystery. Several sneaker outlets list it as suede. To me, however, it feels a lot more like nubuck. Nike lists the black panels as leather, which would suggest they are nubuck. Nubuck is leather that has been lightly sanded, getting rid of some of the imperfections of normal leather. Nubuck is more durable than suede, but only slightly and it shares the same care routine so its functionally the same for this sneaker.

Other than those changes, this is a standard Jordan 1. Nylon tongue, polyester lining, etc.

Under foot, the open cell insole sits on top of a foam wedge. Inside that wedge is an air unit – though since it’s entirely encapsulated and then inside a cup sole don’t expect much from it.

The cup sole is made of a fairly durable rubber. This harms the sneaker as far as comfort goes, but it does mean that your Jordan 1 will last a long time.

Construction

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined, like every Jordan 1, is made with a cup sole construction. To make a sneaker this way, first the upper is stitched, then glued to a cup sole. The cup sole is then sewn along the top edge to the upper.

This is one of the oldest ways of making a sneaker.

The benefits of this style of construction is durability – if the stitching fails, the glue will back it up. If the glue fails, the stitching is still in place. You’re almost certainly going to wear through the outsole before the construction fails.

As for drawbacks, this type of construction is not very flexible and can be more expensive to make. Jordan Brand has figured out how to solve this, but more affordable brands might see some water get in along the stitching as well.

Pricing

The Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined launched with a retail price of $180, the standard rate for Jordan 1s. As of time of writing, they were going for slightly under that on resale sites like eBay. Though, after accounting for shipping and fees, you’re better off going directly through Nike. Plus, Nike’s returns policy can’t be beat so there is a lot less risk if you don’t like the pair once you get it.

These sneakers are fairly new, and resale price could rise or fall in the next few months.

This price puts them at around half the cost of the leather Jordan 1 Royal release from 2017.

Are the Jordan 1 Royal Reimagined Worth It?

Let’s get this out of the way, like almost everyone else, I would have preferred a leather Royal. That is the sneaker with the history behind it. With that being said, I don’t think these sneakers deserve the hate that they’ve been getting. This is still a classic and good-looking sneaker, and for every day wear the suede has a lot of benefits.