Nigel Sylvester Hits Home With Air Jordan 4 “Driveway” Collaboration — Andscape

Over the past decade, BMX rider Nigel Sylvester has been riding bikes around the globe while constructing his unique brand as a content creator, fashion influencer and social philanthropist.

However, Sylvester has not forgotten the start of his profession, which began within the Laurelton section of Jamaica, Queens, New York — or more precisely, within the driveway of his grandmother’s house, where he learned to ride a motorcycle.

Sylvester’s unmistakable athletic roots come to life in his latest sneaker project for Jordan Brand: the “Driveway Grey” Air Jordan 4 RM, which went on sale Thursday for $160 a pair. On July 20, Sylvester’s Jordan 4 collaboration debuted in a limited-edition “Fence Green” colorway, also inspired by his grandmother’s home. Creatively directed by Sylvester, his passion project has been within the works for greater than a 12 months after Jordan Brand tapped the BMX pro to star in the brand new RM — short for RestoMod, a portmanteau of restaurant modification — of the long-lasting Air Jordan 4 silhouette.

“The best days were spent in my grandmother’s driveway,” Sylvester told Andscapein in late 2022. “Those were the days when my curiosity was at its peak and I wanted to express myself on a bike. Whether it was on my big wheel or, as I got a little older, on a little 16-inch. And then it just grew from there. It went from hobby to love to obsession. Every free moment, every free moment, I was riding my bike.”

Sylvester’s version of the Air Jordan 4 notably swaps out the unique 1989 “Nike Air” typography on the heels of every shoe to officially introduce his own signature “Bike Air” branding. The phrase and concept were born around 2021, when Sylvester left his longtime partnership with Nike’s SB division to affix Jordan Brand, inspired by how he gained attention in sneaker culture together with his debut Air Jordan collaboration in 2018. Officially signing on as Jordan Brand’s first and only BMX sponsor was a milestone for Sylvester, a Caribbean American who’s the son of immigrants from Grenada. He still vividly remembers receiving his first bike.

“My dad bought me a 1998 or ’99 Mongoose Sniper,” Sylvester told Andscape. “It was all black. It had chrome handlebars, chrome forks, alloy wheels, red and yellow decals.”

With the introduction of the “Driveway” 4s, Sylvester teamed up together with his sponsor, Specialized Bicycle Components, to introduce the primary Air Jordan-branded BMX bike, limited to a production run of just 17 models, inspired by the wheels of his childhood. Sylvester wrote and starred within the business for the shoe, which was filmed at the house where his grandmother lived. The 90-second spot, which featured former actress Jo Marie Payton as Sylvester’s grandmother, has since appeared in each Times Square and Citi Field.

“My first real BMX bike was everything to me, man,” Sylvester told Andscape. “I took the brakes off and rode up to my buddies in the park and I was like, ‘Hey, look at my new bike.’ It was one of those feelings I’ll never forget. I feel like that was my real introduction to BMX.”

Sylvester made probably the most of his debut BMX bike, zipping around New York City on two wheels and developing his eye for fashion and footwear, which eventually earned him skilled endorsements and collaborations with notable brands similar to Kith, New Era, Oakley, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Nike and Jordan.

“Growing up in Jamaica, Queens, I would go out and ride around different neighborhoods, and I would see all these different influences on how people wore their sneakers,” Sylvester told Andscape. “How people dressed in Uptown, compared to Brooklyn, Queens, and the Lower East Side. Seeing all these different things, I would naturally take something from there and flip it. I would take something from there and flip it. And it just evolved throughout my life and career. Now I’ve gotten to a place where I know what works for me.”

Around the time he turned pro in BMX at age 18, Sylvester signed his first footwear sponsorship with Nike in 2005. But it wasn’t until one other decade later that Sylvester got his first likelihood to design a sneaker. In March 2014, Sylvester and the Swoosh released the “SOMP” (“Standing On My Pedals”) Nike SB Dunk High. Original pairs now fetch as much as $3,500 on sneaker resale platforms. By 2015, Sylvester had captured the world’s attention with the launch of his digital lifestyle and travel video series, GO. Co-directed by BMX athlete and director/photographer Harrison Boyce, GO garnered greater than 100 million views in five years, setting the stage and marketplace for Sylvester’s expanded sponsorship profile.

“I don’t remember when I first saw Nigel, but I remember he got this Nike Sportswear campaign and they put billboards of him in New York,” Boyce told Andscape. “I know it was a big moment for Nigel, but it was also a really big moment for BMX. Only skateboarders had that kind of exposure before. So I was happy that a big brand like Nike was recognizing a BMX athlete like Nigel in that kind of role. Nike was just presenting him as a person. That was the first moment where I felt like Nigel was different.”

Different is probably probably the most apt description of Sylvester’s debut collaboration with the Jordan brand, which resulted within the OG Air Jordan 1 High from August 2018.

“Being able to collaborate on the Jordan 1, which is my favorite shoe, and tell the story of how my shoes get worn out when I’m riding my bike, was a game-changer,” Sylvester told Andscape. “It was definitely a moment. I was so happy.”

For their first collaborative shoe, Sylvester and Jordan Brand took on the ambitious challenge of recreating, and ultimately mass-producing, a pair that looked and felt like a number of the Air Jordans he’d essentially destroyed on his bike during his travels around the globe. Sylvester provided Jordan with personal sneakers, notably an old pair of Shadow 1s, and photos illustrating just how worn his shoes could get. And with that inspiration, the brand’s design team set to work.

“It was just about being myself,” Sylvester told Andscape. “I’ll put on my Jordans, I’ll ride in them, and they’ll naturally wear out because of what I do. My bike doesn’t have brakes. So when I have to stop, my foot hits the ground or my tire digs in. So the shoes naturally wear out. Being able to take that story and share it with the brand and the world, I was just honored and grateful for that first opportunity.”

The BMX pro still remembers the moment then-Jordan footwear designer Frank Cooke first showed him the ultimate Air Jordan 1 “Nigel Sylvester” shoe.

“We were actually editing and Frank Cooke called me on FaceTime and said, ‘Hey, it’s here. It’s done,’” Sylvester recalled. “I said, ‘Send me the shoe right now. FedEx it and send it to me as soon as possible!’ I got it a few days later and I was blown away. It looked so beautiful, man. I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, my collaboration with the Air Jordan 1 changed my life.”

More than five years after his debut Air Jordan, Sylvester returns with two more Air Jordan 4 designs, telling the story of the house and elders who helped result in that defining moment in his life when he received his first BMX bike.

“When I think about my family and my parents leaving Granada and how brave they were to come to New York to take advantage of this opportunity, it means everything to me,” Sylvester told Andscape. “I’m proud of them because I understand the sacrifice that comes with leaving your home and your comfort zone to go on a whole new journey. I channel that energy. I have my whole career. Because for me, it’s always been that mindset that I’m not going to fail. That I’m going to achieve whatever I set my mind to because of the people who sacrificed so much for me to get here.”

Sylvester hasn’t managed to destroy the Air Jordan project just yet. And it doesn’t appear to be his relentless sneaker ride shall be halted anytime soon.

“I’d like to touch a Jordan 3 someday,” Sylvester told Andscape. “Maybe someday.”