Words by Howie Kahn - Design by Martin Flores
After spending a couple years writing a book about sneakers (called, naturally, SNEAKERS) the idea that a pair of coveted kicks can sell for 30 grand actually started to make sense to me. The price, at least I’ve come to think, isn’t merely about frivolity and flexing, it’s about understanding the way objects take on the kind of personal value that’s guided largely by feelings rather than by dollars-and-cents. It’s also about understanding sneaker history. Art collectors collect on the basis of context. Here, too, what people spend money on is not a purely aesthetic decision. The designer matters. The collaboration matters. The material innovation matters. So does the moment in time. Sneakers have a secondary market—driven by retailers like Flight Club, Stadium Goods and GOAT—that boosts prices as a consequence of both scarcity and demand. I’ve been wondering how the market might evolve. But mostly, I just crush on the shoes. Here are 20 pairs I have my eye on right now.
Unlisted price as of 4/17/2019
Before basketball commentator Craig Sager passed away in 2016, Nike designed these Air Jordan 1s to honor him and his plaid-centric style. Reportedly, only a few pairs were produced. Current market value is $15,000.
$50,000 as of 4/17/2019 on Stadium Goods.
The Jordan Brand honored Derek Jeter’s retirement with these Jordan 11s in navy suede. If you didn’t win the auction to snag one of the supposedly five pairs in 2017, they can still be yours for $40,000 for a size 9.5 or $50,000 for a 10.5.
$15,000 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
Nike had the smarts to slap some Wu-Tang branding on their University of Iowa Dunks, playing off the shared colorways of the school and the rap group. This happened in 1999, pre-social media. Had anything like Twitter existed then, these shoes would have dominated all the feeds. They currently go for $15,000. It’s been long rumored there are only 36 pairs.
$20,000 as of 4/17/2019 on flight club
$20,000 is what you’ll pay if you want to know what it felt like to be Kobe Bryant while Nike was wooing him to sign a shoe contract during the 2002-2003 season. They made him these Jordan 3s and 8s in Lakers’ colors before he ultimately signed with the swoosh for good. Limited quantities exist. Jay-Z had a pair. Is he the re-seller?
$20,000 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club.
Over the years, Eminem has collaborated on a series of sneakers with Nike. There’s the 93 Air Max with green elephant print and the underrated 2002 Air Burst, but none are as rare or as coveted as the Carhartt Jordan 4 Encore currently selling for as much as $20,000.
$450 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
In late 2010, New Balance and Concepts, the iconic sneaker shop in Cambridge, MA, announced a Frank Rivera (aka Frank the Butcher) designed riff on the 999 with nautical themes. They called it The Kennedy in honor of a certain local hero. At the time, less than 1000 pairs were made. The shoe had a retro release in 2017 and the OG is, in my opinion, a steal.
PRICELESS unlisted as of 4/17/2019<
The sneaker and streetwear worlds were crestfallen when one of their foremost chroniclers and consultants, Gary Warnett, passed away at the age of 39. In 2018, on what would have been his 40th birthday, Nike made 40 pairs of the Air Span II GW, ostensibly for friends and family. None have yet to emerge onto the secondary market. At this point, they remain literally priceless.
$5,999 as of 4/17/2019 on Stadium Goods
Artist Tom Sachs designed his Mars Yard sneaker with the employees of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in mind. Specifically, they were inspired by the team working on the Mars Rover (Sachs’ 2007 Space Program installation hinges on questions about NASA). The shoes were made to work on the surface of Mars. Nike released a couple thousand pairs in 2012 and released an updated version in the summer of 2018. For the original, featuring Vectran, a material used by NASA, the price is around $5,900.
$8,750 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
Before Kanye launched Yeezy with Adidas in 2015, he designed a series of mega-hyped Nikes, including the Air Yeezy Blink (with its black and pink colorway) in 2009 ($2795) and the Air Yeezy 2 Red October ($20,000) in 2014.
$360 as of 4/17/2019 on GOAT
Some of Nike’s best collaborations are rooted in street culture, where skating, art, and an unapologetic exploration all fuse thrillingly. Their work with the art collective Beautiful Losers—a group that includes Barry McGee, Geoff McFetridge and Kaws—hits all these notes. And it does so in a couple of rare pairs: the 2005 Blazers, released in conjunction with the Beautiful Losers monograph. And… (see right)
N/A unlisted as of 4/17/2019
The Beautiful Losers Dunk. It came out on the occasion of 2008’s Beautiful Losers documentary and features digitally-printed stills from the movie on the upper. Reportedly, 22 pairs exist.
#3,234 as of 4/17/2019 on StockX
Grails sometimes come in packs—a series of swoon-worthy shoes to mark a special occasion. Amsterdam’s sneaker mecca, Patta, crushed their 5th anniversary with one such pack in 2009-2010, releasing five different Nike Air Max 1s. Go ahead and daydream about the Quickstrike chlorophyll colorway, with its nubuck, denim and canvas upper, and its $3,200 price tag, and (see below)
$7,320 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
The collaboration with Dutch artist Parra (Patta x Parra), for its tactile swoosh, cherrywood-colored upper and multi-hued sole. There’s 258 pairs of these, it’s said.
$1,995 as of 4/17/2019 on Stadium Goods
When the first pairs of Adidas’s Futurecraft 4Ds emerged in 2017, literally from a vat of greenish goop, aided by a process called Digital Light Synthesis which 3D-prints bespoke midsoles, the shoe instantly signaled something next level. A pair from the first run will be like having a museum piece.
$5,495 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
It’s a hard rule: when a Japanese design legend releases a spin on an Air Jordan 1 (in a colorway that was once merely a sample), you hunt it down. Hirsohi Fujiwara’s Fragment Royal is immaculate, the stuff of sneaker dreams.
$4,250 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
It might be more interesting to see Off-White and Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh only allow himself to work with lesser Nike silhouettes with the idea of elevating them significantly (let’s see what he does with an Aqua Sock!). But, it’s still beautiful to watch him work an icy white Jordan 1, like this one that was released in Europe in early 2018, and is now trading for over $4,200.
$955 as of 4/17/2019 on GOAT
Has there ever been a more hyped piece of corduroy than Sean Wotherspoon’s 2017 sunshiny Air Max 1–Air Max 97 hybrids? Likely not, and likely never again. Plus, they’re just the happiest drop in recent memory and worth having as a mood elevator alone.
$13,500 as of 4/17/2019 on Flight Club
DJ Khaled’s red and elephant print Air Jordan 3 is nicknamed “Grateful,†for the what he felt having had the opportunity to design it. Grateful is also the name of his album, which dropped around the same time. And Grateful should be the sentiment you feel, along with extreme privilege and confidence in your ability to flex.
$515 as of 4/17/2019 on GOAT
Three-figure Asics may not seem like a logical phrase, but these Ronnie Fieg collabs from 2012 are beautifully detailed (split tongues, round laces), thoughtfully constructed, and evidence of a master coming into his own.
$2,400 as of 4/17/2019 on StockX
Supreme is more than a New York City storefront. It’s a culture all on its own. Pair its gravity with that of limited edition Nike releases and waiting in line for shoes on the street would become like waiting in line to get into the club. Supreme’s first official Nike collab, a now elusive Dunk SB Low from 2002 (original retail price: $65), remains one of its finest.
