It’s been 20 years, and Nike has often celebrated Puerto Rico and the culture with custom sneakers that also came right around the festive Puerto Rican Day Parade. If this year wasn’t bad enough, this year we were supposed to get a 2020 pair that would’ve been exactly like the 2000 pair, but Nike dropped the ball.
The 2020 Air Force 1 Low “Puerto Rico” had one flaw that prevented them from seeing the light of day for most. They still feature the same white and blue color scheme, the Puerto Rican flag on the tongue and heel, and the insole graphic. Unfortunately, the flags on the tongue are backward, unlike the flags on the original that were right facing. I honestly don’t know how this happened but hey such is life. The official statement from a rep at Nike stated:
“Nike is removing the shoe from the marketplace, as it was intended to be a re-release of the Air Force 1 Low Puerto Rico from 2000 and the final product does not accurately reflect the original design.”
I’m not saying anything unsavory, but Nike must do better. Last year they had to cancel the Puerto Rico-honoring Air Force 1 after coming under fire for mistakenly applying a Panamanian/Colombian flag to the shoe. That’s like mistaking the Haitian flag for the Jamaican flag. Although they’ll likely never release. You can purchase the 2020 AF1 “Puerto Rico” at most sneaker reseller sites such as Stadium Good and GOAT for around $500.
