Nike Moon Shoes have made rounds at auction houses as many times as they may have been worn. The first pioneering track and field shoes made by the company’s co-founder Bill Bowerman in 1972, are back on the auction block as filthy as ever! Interest in the iconic “Moon Shoes” created by Bowerman by ingeniously pouring rubber into his wife’s waffle maker to get the groundbreaking idea of studded soles continues to thrive. The “Moon Shoe” got its name from the resemblance between the impression that the waffle pattern left in the dirt and the famous tracks left on the moon by astronauts in 1969. London auction house Sotheby’s is selling the old trainers online, which are believed to be one of only about 12 pairs of its kind ever created. Not too long ago, Sotheby’s auctioned a pair of handmade Nike “Moon Shoes” at their New York offices for a pre-sale high estimate of $160,000. This time a pair of dirty and ragged Nike trainers are on sale for £150,000, which is roughly $2,03,000.
As filthy as they look now, these were the crowning glory of the $1 billion sports brand and Nike’s first major innovation as a brand. Sotheby’s mentions, “The moon got its name from the resemblance between the impression that the waffle pattern left in the dirt and the famous footprints left by the astronauts on the moon in 1969. The Nike ‘Moon Shoe’ is one of the most important items in the $1 billion sports brand’s history.
[Available at: Sotheby’s]
