Almost three months after a first peak reached by a similar model, the sale breaks the record for the most expensive athletic shoes in history. On Thursday, August 13, a pair of Air Jordan 1s sold at auction for $ 615,000, Christie’s announced.
These shoes, which take up the red and white trim as well as the black “swoosh” (the comma of Nike) of the famous Air Jordan 1 Chicago model, were worn during a disputed friendly match on August 25, 1985 in Trieste, in Italy.
On a promotional tour for Nike, Michael Jordan had donned the jersey of Stefanel Trieste, one of the Italian first division teams, to play the match against Juve Caserta, which he was to finish with 30 points.
But this match is best known for a precise action, during which the American rear flew off at the end of the counterattack to dunker, causing a shock which caused the Plexiglas to explode. The left shoe had retained a piece of it in its sole, said Christie’s, who initially estimated it at between $ 650,000 and $ 850,000 when it went on sale online on July 30.
New generation of collectors
Another pair of Air Jordan 1 worn in a match by the icon was sold in mid-May for $ 560,000 at Sotheby’s. A record that only lasted three months for sports shoes.
Ex-NBA superstar Michael Jordan was already one of the world’s most popular athletes, but ESPN’s recent broadcast of the ten-part River documentary The Last Dance recently brought him back to the forefront, seventeen years after his retirement from sports.
A wind of madness has since been blowing on all collectibles that relate to “MJ”, from jerseys to cards, including shoes. Ultra-niche market Until recently, athletic footwear worn by athletes has grown in popularity in recent years with the arrival of a new generation of collectors.
In total, of the eleven pairs of Air Jordan worn in matches or owned by the player that were offered in this online sale, nine were purchased, for a total amount of $ 931,875. The Air Ships, the model worn by Michael Jordan at the very beginning of his first professional season in 1984, before the launch of the Air Jordan 1, did not find a buyer. This pair was estimated between 350,000 and 550,000 dollars.
