Kanye West smashes Michael Jordan's record!

A pair of Nike Air Yeezy 1 sneakers worn by the rapper has been sold to a specialized investment platform for $ 1.8 million, Sotheby's announced on Monday, which organized the sale, triple the previous record so far owned by Nike Air Jordan 1s, sold for $ 615,000 at a sale organized by Christie's, mid-August 2020.

These black high top sneakers, one-off, are Yeezy's very first pair publicly presented at Kanye West's feet at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The resulting model didn't go on sale until April. 2009.

This is a new sign of the vitality of this market, which was only a niche ten years ago and now mainstream as leading collectors.

According to analysts at the financial firm Cowen, this global resale market could be worth $ 30 billion by 2030.

Sneakers acquired by a specialized platform

The precious shoes were acquired by Rares, a platform launched at the end of March by 40-year-old former professional football player Gerome Sapp.

Concretely, Rares acquires a pair of collections, then carries out a sort of IPO on the platform.

Each individual can then buy shares of that pair, as he would buy shares of a listed company.

It is then possible to resell these shares on the platform.

The price varies, as for a traditional exchange, depending on supply and demand.

The price offered by Rares exceeds that of Sotheby's, which was over a million dollars.

The Air Yeezy 1 pair was purchased by New York collector Ryan Chang.

There is no auction process and the buyer preserves his anonymity, unless he wishes to make himself known publicly, as was the case with Rares.

"Kanye West is one of the most influential designers of our time"

For Brahm Wachter, head of streetwear and new collectibles at Sotheby's, the price reached “is a testament to the fact that Kanye West is one of the most influential designers of our time”.

The Air Yeezy 1 was finally released, in a limited series, in 2009, followed by the Air Yeezy 2 in 2012. The Air Yeezy 1 is now trading between $ 2,000 and $ 4,000 for most pairs.

The following year, Kanye West ended his partnership with Nike, considering his share of the revenue insufficient.

He then partnered with Adidas in 2014, to create a brand dedicated to Yeezy.

Huge popular success, it generated nearly $ 1.7 billion in revenue in 2020, according to an internal note from UBS bank, cited by Bloomberg.

If he is not the designer of the Air Yeezy 1, Kanye West has had a lot of influence on the design of the shoe.

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