A pair of shoes designed and worn by musician Kanye West that are going up for auction are the most valuable to appear on the market, the auction house selling them says, the BBC reports.
The Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes have an estimate of $1 million (£726,000).
West first wore the shoes while performing at the Grammys in 2008.
They are now being sold by shoe collector Ryan Chang, through Sotheby’s auction house, and will be on display in Hong Kong from Friday.
In recent years, sneakers have gained the same collectable status as wine or jewellery. Sotheby’s, a global auction house, held its first ever sale dedicated entirely to sneakers in 2019.
Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and modern collectibles at 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 sneaker and lifestyle brands in history”.
The sneakers are a US size 12, or a UK 11 – West’s shoe size.
The seven-figure estimate for the Yeezys beats the previous record sale price for sneakers – a pair of 1985 Nike Air Jordan 1s, which were sold by Christie’s last year for $615,000 (£446,000).
However, there are no records for shoes that have been bought privately.
It is believed that the most expensive sneakers ever created were designed by Bicion and Mache Custom Kicks in 2016. The shoes, which are embellished with diamonds and sapphires, were estimated at $4 million.
