On Wednesday, Jordan Brand will be honored with the Brand of the Year award at the 39th annual FN Achievement Awards. Below is an article from the magazine’s Monday print issue about Jordan Brand.
When you have dozens of iconic sneakers in your history, there’s always an anniversary to celebrate, but Jordan Brand had a big one in the Air Jordan 1’s 40th this year.
To kick off the celebrations, the label teased its faithful re-creation of the seminal Air Jordan in its “Bred” colorway at the close of 2024. Then in early 2025, it pondered what the world might look like sans Air Jordans with an “Unbannable” campaign, including a commercial and censoring of the shoe on digital platforms and in real-life spots such as the Jordan statue at the United Center.
The brand had another story to tell for the return of the “Shattered Backboard” edition, complete with a surprise drone show in New York City and many more tales in the 360-page tome “Air Jordan” published by Assouline.
The AJ1 is arguably the most recognizable basketball shoe in footwear history, yet Jordan Brand succeeded in giving it a much-needed reset after years of oversaturation.
And it didn’t stop there. The brand’s year was replete with major showcase moments for its products and partners. For instance, the first Air Jordan collaboration — Undefeated’s flight jacket-inspired Air Jordan 4 — turned 20 years old and was brought back in much greater quantities than its original run of just 72 pairs.
Meanwhile, BMX star Nigel Sylvester dominated sneaker discussions with his Air Jordan 4 “Brick by Brick” release. And NFL quarterback Jalen Hurts made his case as the preeminent Jordan athlete of today as he won his first Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles while wearing AJ11s in the first
half and AJ1s in the second.
Below, executives, collaborators and retailers look back on the run that made Jordan the Brand of the Year.
An image from Jordan Brand’s “Unbannable” campaign.
Sarah Mensah, Jordan Brand president
“The 40th anniversary really did give us a milestone through which to reimagine the future of the brand. We gave our teams the opportunity to say, ‘What needs to be true and what stories do we need to tell so that the next generation recognizes, reveres and loves this icon the way the past generation has.’ We saw the importance of how the community — when we demonstrate, as a brand, how much we love our product — can reinforce that love right back. And that’s always been the power of this brand.”
Nigel Sylvester, BMX star; Jordan Brand ambassador
“It’s dope to understand that Jordan Brand, being this basketball-first brand, is extending out to these other sports. We’ve seen football, baseball, golf and now [there’s] support for action sports athletes. I got the opportunity to connect with Zeb Powell. He’s a Jordan brand athlete, snowboarder, [has] amazing style, great energy. Being the two action sports kids on the brand, it was dope for us to finally meet.”
Jaylin Ordone, Rukus owner
“2025 has definitely brought me back to when I first started collecting. There wasn’t a month where you couldn’t not buy a pair of Jordans coming out. [If there was anything I’d change], I wish that the ‘Unbannable’ campaign was more of a NBHD story versus the 23 doors they did, but I understand protecting that model and wanting to be as exclusive as possible.”
An image from Jordan Brand’s “Love, Hurts” campaign.
Jason Mayden, Jordan Brand chief design officer
“We have one of the most robust archives ever when it comes to our footwear and apparel. It’s really easy to fall into the trap of rinse and repeat. There are customers who love our canon of product, who love looking backward and celebrating each of those key moments because they’re so endeared to Michael. But we also know there’s a new generation of kids who want to fall in love with the brand, so the balance is always about taking something that’s part of the zeitgeist and reintroducing it in a way that feels fresh and new. Our strategic filters allow us to go through a checklist of things that have emotional resonance, the right shape, the right proportions, the right ‘secret sauce.’ Then we are able to deem it a Jordan product when we check these boxes.”
Chris Gibbs, Undefeated creative director; Union L.A. owner
“[Jordan Brand] reached out to some of their top partners asking them for ideas around reimagining past collaborations with them. For us, it was easy. We were the first collaborator with Jordan Brand and we thought it was a no-brainer to bring back our original AJ4. Twenty years later, we thought it was time to make these accessible to a new generation.”
Caitlin Sargent, Jordan Brand chief marketing officer
“We have a really critical role to play in the world of sneaker culture, and I think there’s been a very formulaic approach in this space. Our job is to make sure that we set the new playbook. So this last year we’ve been doing that by getting back to irreverent storytelling, making sure that it’s limited. Some of the launches we did were actually not digital; it was real life only and ignited lines around the world again. We believe we’re lifting up the full industry, not just the Jordan Brand.”
Undefeated’s Air Jordan 4.
James Bond, Undefeated cofounder and co-owner
“We wanted the consumer and fan of Undefeated to have their moment with the shoe and our team. You forget what it’s like to have an emotional connection to something or someone. It was great that we got to revisit that connection and do so as a global brand in cities like Chicago and Paris, where we don’t normally get to connect with people on the ground.”
For 39 years, the annual FN Achievement Awards — often called the “Shoe Oscars” — have celebrated the style stars, best brand stories, ardent philanthropists, emerging talents and industry veterans. The 2025 event is supported by Caleres, Listrak, Nordstrom, Skechers, Vibram and Wolverine Worldwide.
