What does it mean for sneakers to become regulars at top auction houses? |Sneakers|Trends|Fashion_Sina Fashion_Sina.com

Original title: Sneakers have become regulars at top auction houses. What does this mean?

Author: 1626 Trend Selection

Under the prosperity of street culture, it is nothing new that sneakers, football cards, and even some Archive clothing can be listed on the top auction ranks.

In recent years, auction houses have always maintained a keen attitude towards such auctions. Among them, the sneaker category has repeatedly been sold at sky-high prices and frequently made headlines on social media, which naturally contributed a lot to the popularity of the shoe circle.

　　In fact, it is not difficult to findIn recent years, the auction behavior is close to contemporary youth culture, and indeed a lot of concessions and changes have been made, thus making sneaker auctions more and more the norm.

　　Sotheby‘s、CHRISTIE’S

Frequent auction of sneakers

In recent years, authoritative auction houses with a history of more than 100 years, such as Sotheby’s and CHRISTIE’S, have all held sneaker auctions, and they have created many great achievements.

　　In 2019, Sotheby’s auctioned off a pair of Nike-made Waffle Moon Shoes from 1972, originally designed and handcrafted by Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman,It has set a global sneaker sales record, so it is of great significance.

In the end, the shoe was sold at a sky-high price of $437,000, setting a record for the most expensive sneakers in history. This moment caused a heated discussion in the shoe circle, and it also began to make people realize that the value of sneakers is far more than itself.

This record only lasted for a few months, and was also held by the same Sotheby’s auction Michael Jordan personally wears the first year Air Jordan 1 to break. Under the influence of the documentary “The Last Dance”, this pair of sneakers, originally estimated at about $150,000, finally sold for $560,000.

Also as one of the most famous auction houses in the world,CHRISTIE’S also took out a pair of Air Jordan 1s personally worn and signed by Michael Jordan for auction, and broke the auction price of $615,000. Sotheby’s record.

The reason why this pair of shoes can be sold at a sky-high price is that Michael Jordan wore it in an exhibition game in 1985 and staged a famous scene of smashing a rebound, which is of great historical significance.

Thereafter,Sotheby’s also auctioned the Air YEEZY 1 worn by Kanye at the Grammys and the Air Ship worn by Michael Jordan in 2021. They sold for $1.8 million and $1.45 million respectively, setting new records again.

　　These astonishing sales figures also seem to have made the auction house pay attention to the great prospects of the sneaker market.At the same time, it has prompted the auction house to directly cooperate with brands and sneaker stores for the first time.

For example, in 2021, CHRISTIE’S will team up with Stadium Goods, a high-end sneaker consignment store in New York, USA, to bring the Original Air Takes Flight rare sneaker auction, which includes as many as 90 pairs of rare sneakers worn by players, PE version, and Sample version.

This year Sotheby’s directly teamed up with Louis Vuitton to auction Virgil Abloh’s legacy LV x Nike Air Force 1, and charged a 25% handling fee. The average transaction price of the final shoes exceeded one million yuan, which caused a great sensation in many fields such as fashion and street.

A few days ago, Sotheby’s once again held the 40 For 40 The Air Force 1 Collection event, featuring 40 pairs of rare Air Force 1 shoes.

The actions of the auction house are undoubtedly catering to the current youth culture, while discovering new business opportunities and reaping dividends from them.

　　Auctions cater to youth culture,

　　positive change

　　In the past, people’s understanding of auction items was not limited to antique artworks, jewelry, famous watches, famous wines, and even cars and other fine products.However, with the rise and evolution of street culture in recent years, the preferences of young people have also begun to change, so auctions have gradually become closely related to fashion and trends.

Some authoritative and established auction houses frequently break into the vision of trend lovers. In order not to limit their own development, they target the youth market and continue to expand their scope.

Actively linking with the production of active on the street is undoubtedly an ongoing initiative of the auction house, and sneakers are one of them. It has also been proved that this can indeed drive the popularity of the auction house.

Some sneakers with stories or special significance can be preserved and inherited on a higher platform through the reputation and appreciation of the auction house. This is a unique high-end style of sneaker auctions.

The auction value actually does not depend on whether a pair of shoes can be auctioned for hundreds of thousands of sky-high prices, but on the uniqueness and historical background of the sneakers, which is the fundamental reason for buyers to buy the lot with real money.

However, in the process of auction houses entering the trend field, there are also many voices of doubt, saying that in order to cater to the youth market, their approach seems to be too close to the ground, and even a bit out of the essence of sneaker auctions.

Take Sotheby’s, which has repeatedly broken the highest transaction price, as an example. When we enter the sneaker page of the official website, we can find thousands of pairs of sneakers pouring out, many of which are highly collectible sneakers.

But what is puzzling is that there are also some ordinary large-scale sneakers that occupy most of the list. They don’t even need to bet, and they can be purchased directly by adding them to the shopping cart, just like browsing the sneaker resale platform.

Therefore, some netizens believe that the auction is now selling a few thousand yuan of sneakers, and it is a bit self-deprecating to compare oneself to the buyer’s shop and the shoe-frying software. These common commodities also make the sneaker auction’s sense of luxury suddenly drop.

But this also proves from another angle, sneakersindeedIt belongs to a new generation of works of art. It is not only a culture, but also a business with great potential.

“You’re going to see a whole generation of changing interest in investing and alternative assets.” On eBay, a pair of sneakers is sold every four seconds. “We have a lot of people in high school running sneaker-based businesses,” said Garry Thaniel, general manager of sneakers at eBay, an online auction platform.

　　nowmost buyersage 40 under the age ofsneakersIts popularity is likely to continue, so it’s not hard to see why auction houses are moving towards it.

　　In recent years, sneakers and jerseys have been sold at sky-high prices, which has impacted mainstream artworks again and again, which undoubtedly means that street art is ushering in the best era.And auction houses such as Sotheby’s and CHRISTIE’S are witnesses to all this.