Sotheby’s Open Ultra-Rare Nike “40 for 40” Air Force 1 Auction

To celebrate Nike’s Air Force 1 turning 40, renowned auctioneers Sotheby’s have curated an extensive catalogue of the rarest Airs out there, digging up collaborative gems on Nike’s most popular silhouette - many of which were thought to be mere folklore.

40 years ago, Bruce Kilgore introduced the now iconic model as a basketball shoe, that for the first time ever, used airbag technology within the midsole. A precursor to the mid and low versions that we know and love today, the original rollout of the sneaker saw six of the top NBA basketball players at the time, including Michael Cooper, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone, donning the new silhouette in its initial high top variant. 

If you’d have told Bruce back in 1982 that his ingenious design would transcend sports and turn into something of a highly accessible future relic, he’d have likely laughed your crystal-ball having self out of town, as in 1987, he had forgotten about the shoe completely and was left in a state of surprise to know it was still in production in a small Taiwanese factory, due to the high demand in the region at that time. Although Bruce’s surprise was not unfounded - Nike had officially discontinued the model in 1984 to make way for other silhouettes to shine, but were convinced by the shoe’s colloquial popularity amongst the youth to pour all of their efforts into the sneaker’s production, just one year later in 1985. The rest is history.

As this is the Air Force 1’s 40th year on the market, Sotheby’s have aptly decided to list 40 ultra-elusive lots, offering samples galore from a croc-leather HTM x Fragment variant, to a special edition Vice pair, equipped with blinged out detailing. The 2022 Louis Vuitton x Nike Air Force 1 by Virgil Abloh are already on track to surpass their higher estimated price point - currently sitting at a measly bid of $110k.

For many of us, this will be the first time even acknowledging the existence of said pairs - but sadly, it will also be the last time that we see them, as with the gold-dust-like lore surrounding so many of the kicks, even the lower echelon listings rarely, if ever, touch sites like StockX and eBay. 

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Peruse the collection for yourself here, on Sotheby’s website. Ranging in price from $1k to $110k, all 40 lots are live until Tuesday, June 21st. Happy bidding…