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Sotheby's in New York announced on Thursday its first-ever
auction dedicated to sneakers, underlining their fast-growing
status as collectibles able to command tens of thousands of
dollars.
Sotheby's is teaming up with streetwear marketplace Stadium
Goods to auction 100 pairs of the rarest sneakers ever produced,
including a sample of one of the first Nike Inc running shoes
with a pre-sale high estimate of $160,000.
The Nike "Moon Shoe" is one of only 12 pairs created. It was
designed by Nike co-founder and track coach Bill Bowerman for
runners at the 1972 Olympics trials and the pair up for auction
is handmade, Stadium Goods said.
Other sneakers include 2011 and 2016 versions of the "Back to
the Future Part II" limited-edition shoes by Nike that were
inspired by the 1989 film starring Michael J. Fox.
The 2016 version of the futuristic shoe, complete with
self-lacing technology, is expected to sell for between $50,000
and $70,000.
"We’ve long talked about how sneakers are this generation’s
luxury fashion, and being able to collaborate with a brand with
the history and esteem of Sotheby’s is further proof of that,"
John McPheters, co-founder of New York-based Stadium Goods, said
in a statement.
Other shoes in the online sale, beginning on Thursday and ending
on July 23, include sought-after and limited-edition sneakers
produced by Adidas, Air Jordan and rapper Kanye West's Yeezy
collection.
Noah Wunsch, global head of eCommerce at Sotheby's, said the
sneaker sale was bringing together "art, culture and fashion"
and marked another step in the auction house's expansion of
offerings of highly coveted luxury goods.
The shoes are on public exhibit at Sotheby's in New York through
July 23.
The highest price fetched at public auction for sneakers is
thought to be $190,373 in 2017 for a pair of signed Converse
shoes said to have been worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984
Olympic basketball final. The shoes were auctioned through
California sports memorabilia company SCP.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant in Los Angeles; Editing by Peter
Cooney)
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