Can a pair of sneakers cost as much as a house? The answer is yes, at least when it comes to the Vuitton-Nike sneakers designed by Virgil Abloh, an American designer who produced himself in this work shortly before his more premature death than ever. Sotheby's has auctioned 200 lots of these exclusive shoes and the figures obtained are nothing short of impressive: on average, each pair of shoes was paid more than 100 thousand dollars, but the most expensive sneakers are getting to exceed the sidereal threshold of 350 thousand dollars. The operation is unprecedented.
A result that surprised even Sotheby's
Not even Sotheby's had any idea that ratings could go up that high. The auction house's experts had predicted that the average price would be between $5 and $15: a grossly wrong estimate, in the order of 85/95%. Of course, it was hard to believe that the elevator game would go so far, considering that every pair of sneakers started from the same starting price of 2 thousand dollars. A pittance, in hindsight.
The auction six days after the farewell show
The sale took place entirely online and operations began on January 26, just six days after the presentation of the latest collection by Abloh, now former artistic director of men's fashion at Vuitton. On that occasion, in Paris, among the public shaken by emotion there were also international stars of the show like Rihanna, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.
The death of Virgil Abloh
Abloh passed away last November 28 at the age of only 41 and his death, which occurred due to cancer, deeply shook the fashion world, which will remember him as a very popular stylist among young people, capable of fusing in a more effective than ever the world of luxury with that of streetwear. And to raise the price of a pair of sneakers up to real estate market values.
