Nigel Sylvester's AJ4 'Brick' Wins Sneaker Of The Year, Talks 'Incredible' Honor

Nigel Sylvester's on top of the sneaker world after his Nike Air Jordan 4 “Brick by Brick” kicks won Sneaker of the Year at ComplexCon 2025 -- a moment the designer/BMX star says was every bit amazing as it was a relief!

Sylvester chopped it up with TMZ Sports after his big weekend in Las Vegas ... where the 38-year-old talked about his AJ4s' impact on sneaker culture, whether he's bragged about winning, and his plans for the Swoosh going forward.

"When we were watching the [ComplexCon] live stream, and Joe LaPuma was like, 'Nigel Sylvester, Brick by Brick AJ4,' it was just like, man... It was surreal for sure."

"I've been working with Nike and Jordan Brand for the entirety of my professional BMX career. And the 'Brick by Brick' was my eighth shoe that I did with the brand. And for that to be the one, it just felt incredible, man. Seriously, it felt incredible," Sylvester explained.

The firewood orange Jordans, which got a ton of buzz heading up to the release, dropped on March 14 ... and sold out almost immediately.

Winning was exhilarating, but Nigel says there was also a "moment of relief" after months of talk from fans who speculated whether he'd take home the SOTY award.

As sweet as Sylvester's sneakers are, it wasn't a lock he'd win. 2025 was a strong year for footwear, and others were worthy of the honor.

Some of the other contenders ... Pharrell x Adidas Adistar Jellyfish Orange, Lil Yachty x Nike Air Force 1 Low Lucky Green, and Awake x Air Jordan 5 Arctic Pink.

Nigel says he's humbled just being named alongside those creatives.

"It's something that feels good, you know, to know that your peers and your community admires you and holds you in that regard, man. Like that feels incredible."

"Shout out to all the sneakers and individuals, people who were featured on the list. I had some friends on there, as well, from 'Easy' and Angelo [Baque] with the Awake, you know, Pharrell with the Jellyfish."

He continued ... "It was dope to be amongst that incredible group of people, but also it felt good to take number one spot."