“Brick” isn’t usually a word you want associated with your kicks—in sneakerhead parlance, it means a shoe that doesn’t land, that doesn’t connect, and more importantly that doesn’t sell. The kind of shoe that sits on shelves, lining sneaker store walls (you know, like a…you get it). Not everyone gets to jam on their own Air Jordan 4 and anyone who does probably doesn’t want that shoe bricking once it gets released to the masses. Inviting such close associations with the term for a sneaker release is a strategy that might furrow a brow or two, and understandably so. But with the ‘Brick by Brick,’ Sylvester’s aiming to make an interesting point about failure.
Nike
Success, according to Sylvester, is built from failure, each brick—and we aren’t just talking sneakers now—laying the foundation for something better ahead. You can’t land a trick on your bike without beefing it a dozen times or two. The shoe’s red-orange suede and sole to match (set off by a stripe of off-white) replicates the shade of a literal brick, with the increasingly iconic ‘BIKE AIR’ logo on the heels in the same shade of white to tie it together.
The Nigel Sylvester x Air Jordan 4 ‘Brick by Brick’ hits SNKRS and select retailers today for $225.
