If there is one thing we’ve all learned from watchingThe Last Dance,it’s that Michael Jordan always wins. Even when there is no competition, he still has an unrelenting desire to beat his opponent. It’s an ethos that led him to break records on the court, and now, off it. His game-worn autographed Air Jordan 1s from 1985 have gone under the hammer at Sotheby’s, selling for a monumental USD$560,000. That’s nearly four times the original estimated price of $150,000, setting a new world record for the highest price ever paid for a sneaker. The previous record was held by the Nike Waffle Moon show, which went for USD$437,500.
The unique sneakers were designed by Peter Moore back in 1984 and featured the iconic ‘Chicago’ colourway. According to Sotheby’s, 70 per cent of the bidders were new to the auction house, with the price surging bu USD$300,000 in the final 20 minutes.
Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s director of eCommerce development said the result was an incredible demonstration of Jordan’s global appeal.
“We are extremely excited about today’s record-breaking result! Building off the momentum from our debut sneaker sale last year, which previously set the record for a pair of sneakers with the Nike Moon Shoe, we wanted to set the bar even higher for our second sneaker sale. We saw tremendous bidding up until the moment the sale closed, with the value more than doubling in the final hour alone,” he said.
“That coupled with strong international bidding from six countries on four continents shows not only the incredible appeal of Michael Jordan as one of the most recognizable and legendary athletes of all time, but also that sneaker collecting is truly a global and growing market.”
Half a million dollars for a pair of sneakers is steep, but let’s not forget, these are the shoes that birthed a legend, giving His Airness his hops.
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