Kanye West's 'Grammy worn' sneakers sold for record-breaking US Dollar 1.8 Million

Rapper Kanye West’s pair of Nike Air Yeezy sneakers were sold for $1.8 million, triple the previous record for sneakers, the auction house Sotheby's said on April 26 in a statement. The black high-top Yeezys were worn by the rapper during the 2008 Grammy Awards where he performed two of his popular songs Hey Mama and Stronger. The sneakers, which were part of a collaboration between the sports brand and Nike and West, were prototypes, with the resulting model not going on sale until April 2009.

Kanye West's sneakers auctioned at a whooping price

The shoes of the rapper were acquired by RARES -- an investing platform that allows users to buy and trade pieces. CEO and co-founder of RARES, Gerome Sapp, said in a statement compared the Grammy-worn pair to buying "a piece of history" "Our goal in purchasing such an iconic shoe is to increase accessibility and empower the communities that birthed sneaker culture with the tools to gain financial freedom through RARES,” he said.

The auction house Sotheby took to Instagram and share the picture of the shoes while penning the long description. In the description, they wrote, “World Record: This pair of Kanye West ‘Grammy Worn’ Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototypes from 2008 sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million today, acquired by sneaker investing platform @raresapp via private sale. The price sets a new milestone for a publicly recorded sneaker sale, shattering the current auction record for sneakers by almost three times, and establishing the Yeezy 1 Prototypes as the most valuable sneakers ever and the first recorded sneaker sale for more than $1 million. One of the most prized and sought-after sneakers in existence, this pair was unveiled when #Kanye wore the sneakers during his memorable performance of ‘Hey Mama’ and ‘Stronger’ during the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, making the Yeezy a pillar in the advent of modern sneaker culture.” 

The shoes were on the platform's "stock exchange" list at around $15-20 per share on June 16, he explained. The rapper initially teamed up with Nike before switching to Adidas to create his own line. According to an internal note from UBS bank, the sneakers generated nearly $ 1.7 billion in revenue in 2020, The auction house ran multiple updates across its social media handles.

(Image credit: AP/ sothebys/ Instagram)