Sotheby’s auction house has announced that the sale of a pair of Nikes worn by rapper Kanye West in 2008 have broken all price records for sneakers in history. Everything, after paying 1.8 million dollars (around one and a half million euros) to the investment firm. A platform that is dedicated to offering actions of collection footwear, as if it were companies on the stock market.
Kanye West has held since the end of March, although it has now been announced, a new record. Specifically, one awarded to the sneakers that he wore at the 2008 Grammys as a way of advertising the Nike Yeezy 1, which at that time was a prototype that came to light a year later.
The 1.8 million dollars that have been paid exceed the 615,000 that in mid-2020 were paid for an Air Jordan 1, until now the record for a pair of sneakers. A value that indicates the wealthy interest in this product (it is estimated that in 2030 the market for collectible footwear could amount to 30,000 million dollars) and is reaffirmed by who made the purchase.
The Rares platform is dedicated to treating collectible sneakers like public companies
The company Rares, owned by a former football player, is a platform dedicated to buying sneakers to sell them in small shares. In the style of a company, shareholders acquire shares of said shoe that, depending on their interest, go up or down in value.
Already in the catalog, the Air Yeezy 1 can begin to be purchased from June 16, . However, users of the platform can already start reserving their position to be one of the first to have shares of this shoe.
Kanye West during the 2008 Grammys in the Air Yeezy 1. Photo: Getty.
“This sale demonstrates that West is one of the most influential designers of our time,” said Brahm Wachter, head of collectibles at Sotheby’s. A company that had estimated the auction at a million dollars and now has been surprised by this trend that has had the world’s most famous rapper as its spearhead.
The record could be broken in May
A Kanye West who, precisely, no longer works for Nike but rather for his competition. It was in 2014, when Kim Kardashian’s ex-husband was already a reference for the American firm, that he took the step of switching to Adidas since West considered that his percentage of earnings with Yeezy was not enough. The transfer, according to Bloomberg, caused the German company to earn 1.7 billion dollars from the sale of these shoes in 2020.
A million-dollar record, with a media presence behind it, which could be in vain in the coming months. Sotheby’s has already announced that in a few days it will auction some basketball shoes worn by Kareem Abdul Jabbar, as well as others by Stephen Curry. But the highlight will be from May 1 to 12 when an Air Jordan 1 worn by Michael Jordan himself during his debut year in the NBA in 1984 is on sale. For now, the 1.8 million Nike Yeezy 1 They are the number to beat.
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