In July 2019, the paradigm for the most expensive sneakers ever sold shifted forever. That’s when Sotheby’s registered its first-ever sale of a pair of sports shoes at auction: vintage Nike “Moon Shoes” from 1972, which hammered for a record-setting $437,000—nearly triple the expected sale price of $150,000. Less than a year later, in May 2020, the auction house moved a pair of autographed Air Jordan 1s for an eye-watering $560,000, making it clear that this was not a one-off fluke.
“Loco prices like these are not just a high-water mark for collectors,” the Sneaker Freaker editor-in-chief Woody writes in The World’s Greatest Sneaker Collections. “They also represent an influx of moneyed investors looking at sneakers as blue-chip investments.” In the sake of these legitimized auction-house trades, private sales of rare sneakers have exploded on the market, reaching some truly dizzying heights. “Today, both prices perversely look like bargains,” Woody writes of those first two sneaker sales, “if you can stomach the idea of old sports shoes worth as much as a house.”
It seems all but guaranteed that these numbers will only continue to rise from here, so watch this space—the age of the sneaker auction is only just beginning. From more rare game-worn grails to insane one-of-one gems, here are the most expensive sneakers ever sold.
1. The Dynasty Collection, $8 million
Earlier this year, Sotheby’s registered the most lucrative sneaker sale in the history of the auction house, when the eight-shoe pack known as the “Dynasty Collection” racked up an impressive $8 million sale.
The Dynasty Collection included eight sneakers actually worn by Michael Jordan during the NBA playoffs across eight different seasons. Tim Hallam, the public relations officer for the Chicago Bulls for many years, asked MJ for one of his game-worn shoes after the Finals in 1991—a practice Jordan continued after every playoffs performance thereafter, perhaps out of superstition. These eight shoes represent the other sneaker that Hallam did not receive in these cases.
What’s especially impressive about this sale is that none of the sneakers came in pairs. The lot also included a set of signed photos by Bill Smith of Jordan following each of the Finals, in which he can be seen wearing a shoe on just one foot.
2. “The Last Dance” Air Jordan 13, $2.2 Million
