1 on 1 with Bobbito Garcia

Bobbito Garcia has been a staple in the shoe game and its community for quite some time. He has been the spearhead in collabs with major brands such as Nike, Reebok and Under Armour. Now, the legend that some of you know as DJ Cool Bob Love has now come together with Pro-Keds for his spin on the classic Royal Flash model. Everyone knows that that Bobbito usually has the Midas touch when it comes to collaborations as evident by these photos of the aforementioned Royal Flash. While everyone can see the great result of the Bobbito Royal Flash, not too many people know the history and the thought process that went into making this classic. Nice Kicks sat down with Bobbito, the author of the Sneaker Bible “Where’d you Get Those”, to get a better understanding of the history and culture that both him and the Royal Flash carries. With that being said, click here to read the interview with the legendary Bobbito Garcia.

Bobbito Royal Flash

Nice Kicks: First off, tell us a little about the Bobbito Royal Flash.

Bobbito: The Royal Flash, which was originally released in 1979, has never been reissued since. Pro Keds approached me to be a part of the first introduction of the shoe in 30 years, which I am very proud of. I felt like since the four colors are a fall launch, it goes with back to school/autumn season. However, it is also a representative of basketball tournaments and the playgrounds in spanish Harlem. Also, the Royal Flash first came to my eyes in the barrio (Spanish Harlem)…I picked up a pair of dead stock Royal Flashes in 89 or 90 and they are the very first shoe that was used (I paid 15 dollars for them)? on 116 and Lex. They are the very shoes I lent to Pro Keds, so that they could recreate this beautiful Bobbito Royal Flash. They didn’t even have the original shoe. All they had were the shots and photos that I presented to them from my book, “Where’d You Get Those? New York City’s Sneaker Culture:1960-1987″ (originally released in 2003). That’s the reason they approached me to do the collab in the first place. Seeing that I wrote so fondly of the shoe in my book, they felt like I was the right person to bring them back out.? The 4 colors are: one that I’m calling ox blood (some people might call it burgundy),? swiss loading (army jacket green),? rust (spanish tile) and nugget gold. To my knowledge, the ox blood will not be available for retail.

Nice Kicks: So since this is the 1st time this shoe has released in 30 years, did Pro-Keds reach out to you or you reached out to them? How did this all come about?

Bobbito: They reached out to me because of what I wrote in the book, and I had a relationship with Pro-Keds dating back to when I was doing research for my book. I was definitely on their mind for years because they loved the book. They felt that it was really helpful to them relaunching the brand in the earlier part of this decade. So there is a decade worth of relationship between me and Pro-Keds. By the way, Damon Dash had the license to the brand for a couple of years and then they parted ways amicably. I don’t know if you saw it but the collab they did with Patta was ridiculous. They got me on board to do this Royal Flash, so I think it’s a good time for them and for the sneaker heads. My old heads are bugging out because they come by my crib, pick up the promo pair and their? like, ” Yo, I never thought I would see these again!”

You know there are certain shoes from our era that we just never really anticipated? to be reissued and this is one of them. I think the fact that Pro-Keds decided to do it is phenomenal! I got guys like Elliot Peter Curtis, who ran the Sneakerology 101 course at Carnegie Melon (first higher learning accredited course on that levels history) and loving the shoe. He’s flipping over the burgundy. My boy Ted Nitro from Spanish Harlem, who coined the nickname “Add On” for the Royal Flash (which I put on the shoe as a little detail) is? buggin out over it. Hopefully, both old and new? will accept the shoe and really treasure wearing it.

To read page 2 of the interview click here.