Most expensive unworn trainers (sneakers) sold at auction

A pair of 1972 Nike Waffle Racing Flat “Moon Shoe” sneakers sold for $437,500 (£351,426; €391,554), including premium, at Sotheby’s in New York, USA, on 23 July 2019. The unworn shoes were hand-made by Nike co-founder and Oregon University track coach Bill Bowerman, and only a handful of the original batch of 12 pairs are left in existence. The purchase was made by Canadian entrepreneur and collector Miles Spencer Nadal, who is planning on displaying the sneakers – plus another 99 pairs acquired in the sale – at his Dare to Dream Automobile Museum in Toronto, Canada. The sale was curated by Stadium Goods, a US-based premier sneaker marketplace, and the lot was sold by Jordy Geller, the Guinness World Records title holder for largest collection of sneakers.

Mr. Nadal purchased 99 pairs of sneakers in a private sale prior to the public auction for the Moon Shoe. The Nike sneaker was held back in order to be placed into public sale, but Nadal purchased it too. The prototype sneaker is considered an historic artefact in the history of sports. According to Sotheby’s, “Bowerman was first inspired to create the innovative waffle sole traction pattern found on the brand’s early running shoes by tinkering with his wife’s waffle iron and pouring rubber into the mold to create the first prototype of the sole.”

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