An ultra-rare pair of Apple-branded sneakers is up for grabs and it could be yours if you’re willing to spend a whopping $50,000. But the jaw-dropping asking price seems rather justified when you consider that this specific pair of trainers has never been sold to the general public before. The highly collectible pair of US men’s size 10.5 trainers is being sold by renowned auction house Sotheby’s at a fixed price instead of being auctioned, which is slightly surprising. The complete history of the sneakers is not quite known, but the auction house claims they were a one-time giveaway at a national sales conference in the mid-1990s. Sotheby’s also noted that Apple “did launch a clothing and accessories line in the mid-‘80s that featured everything from umbrellas to hand-blown crystal beer mugs, the sneakers, which were made by Omega Sports and branded with the vintage rainbow Apple logo, have never been sold on the public market.”
Back in 2016, a similar pair of Apple-branded sneakers went up for sale at Heritage Auction that was estimated to be worth $30,000. The bespoke trainers were found at a garage sale in Palo Alto, California. Later in 2018, Leon Benrimon, Heritage Auction’s director of modern and contemporary art, told Esquire: “We believe they were a pair of prototype sneakers made for Apple in the late 1980s or early 1990s. We believe there were only two pairs made, and the other pair was from the Apple archives. The pair we have are what we believe is the only known private pair.”
In description noted that the condition of the shoes “is consistent with age, imperfections include yellowing around the midsoles and glue, and light marks on the toe boxes.” They are almost all-white, except for the retro multicolored Apple logo.
Additionally, an alternative pair of red laces is included in the box. In 2019, Concepts and Parisian footwear designer and manufacturer Mephisto collaborated to create a limited-edition sneaker that paid tribute to the Apple trainers, priced at $390. While it wasn’t an official reboot of the original, the Concepts x Mephisto “Apple” Sneaker looked pretty impressive.
