A pair of shoes designed and worn by Kanye West are up for auction and are the most expensive that have been put on the market, according to the auction house that sells them. Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototypes cost a full $ 1 million.
West first wore the shoes to the Grammys in 2008. They have now gone on sale by shoe collector Ryan Chang, through the Sotheby's auction house and will be on display in Hong Kong from today.
Brahm Wachter, head of Sotheby's, said in a statement that the shoes were "critical to the development of the Yeezy franchise, which became one of the most important athletic brands in history".
The athletes are number 45-46, with the European measure.
The price of these Yeezy sneakers exceeds the previous record - a pair of 1985 Nike Air Jordan 1s, which sold last year for $ 615,000.
Yeezys will be sold privately, which means that neither the buyer nor the final sale price will be published unless the buyer himself wishes.
West's collaboration with Nike was established between 2007 and 2009. This was the first time Nike collaborated with someone who was not an athlete. West wore the sneakers during a Grammy show in 2008, where he performed the songs "Stronger" and "Hey Mama," just months after his mother died.
Air Yeezy 1 then came out in a limited series in 2009, followed by Air Yeezy 2 in 2012.
While in 2013 West ended his collaboration with Nike, saying that his share of shoe revenue was insufficient. The following year, he began collaborating with Adidas.
The partnership with Adidas turned out to be a profitable decision. The collaboration generated nearly $ 1.7 billion in 2020, according to Forbes and Bloomberg.
