Black and royal blue on a Jordan 1 is one of the three colorways that started everything. The Bred got its OG '85 treatment last year. The Chicago got its "Lost and Found" moment. The Royal has been waiting since 2017. On September 10, Nike dropped the official photos, and the date is locked: Saturday, October 10, via SNKRS and Jordan retailers like JD Sports. Code IQ5495-005.
## What's different from 2017 This is the standard Retro High OG build, not the '85 cut some early reports guessed. Classic collar height, original panel proportions, Nike Air on the tongue. House of Heat's read on the photos: the shape and the shade of blue were both reconsidered from the last retro. Sneaker News noted the royal panels have a heavier tumbled grain and look a touch brighter than the 2017 pair. The leather may be a little thicker. Small things, but on a 1, the small things are the whole review.
## The box is the story Every release gets a box. This one gets a photo of a young Michael Jordan wearing the Royal 1s with a matching Jordan Flight suit, shot more than 35 years ago. Jordan Brand has been doing this on its anniversary-level retros all year: the "Tune Squad" lid on the AJ9 Space Jam, the Ferrari-tied packaging on the 14s. The Royal box puts Mike himself on the shelf, which tells you how the brand ranks this pair.
## Why the Royal matters The Royal was never the on-court shoe. Mike wore the Bred and the Chicago in games. The Royal was the photo-shoot pair and the one the streets adopted. It never got the "banned" mythology, so it aged on merit: a two-tone that goes with everything, on the most important basketball sneaker Nike ever made. Since the 2001 retro, it's returned only a handful of times, most recently 2017. Nine years is long enough for a whole generation of buyers to have never had a shot at it.
## The October calendar around it October is the deepest month of the Jordan fall. Per House of Heat and Sneaker News: the women's AJ3 Fireside on October 3, the Royal on the 10th, the AJ5 Halloween on the 17th, the AJ12 Fireside on the 24th, and the AJ14 Forest Green on the 31st. Then the Bred 4 on Black Friday. If you're picking one to camp on, the Royal is the one with the longest wait behind it.
## Sources - House of Heat, updated September 10, 2026 - Air Jordan 1 High OG "Royal" Returns Oct. 10 With Special Shoe Box: https://houseofheat.co/jordan/air-jordan-1-royal-holiday-2026-release-date - Sneaker News, July 21, 2026 - Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG "Royal" (IQ5495-005): https://sneakernews.com/2026/07/21/air-jordan-1-retro-high-og-royal-iq5495-005/ - Complex, 2026 - Air Jordan 1 'Royal' Retro October 2026 Release Date: https://www.complex.com/sneakers/a/victor-deng/air-jordan-1-high-royal-2026-release-date - House of Heat, July 5, 2026 - Every Major Air Jordan Releasing for Fall 2026: https://houseofheat.co/jordan/air-jordan-releases-fall-2026

