The Nike Air Yeezy sneakers Kanye West wore while performing “Hey Mama” and “Stronger” during his appearance at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in 2008, fetched a whopping $1.8 million at an auction conducted by Sotheby’s.

The auction house announced on Monday (April 26) that investing platform RARES bought the Nike Air Yeezys, paying the highest recorded price ever for a pair of sneakers.

The figure of $1.8 million is more than thrice the $560,000 legendary basketball player Michael Jordon‘s autographed Nike Air Jordon 1 sneakers fetched in May 2020.

The sneakers were designed by West, Nike creative director Mark Smith and Nike innovator Tiffany Beers at Nike’s “Innovation Kitchen” lab in the company’s Beaverton, Ore., headquarters.

CEO and co-founder of RARES Gerome Sapp, said in a press statement that purchasing the Grammy-worn pair was akin to buying “a piece of history.”

“Our goal in purchasing such an iconic shoe,” Sapp continued, “is to increase accessibility and empower the communities that birthed sneaker culture with the tools to gain financial freedom through RARES.”

Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of streetwear & modern collectables, said in a statement that the sale “speaks volumes of Kanye’s legacy as one of the most influential clothing and sneaker designers of our time.”

(Photo: Sotheby’s)

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