Auction for Nike Air Force x Louis Vuitton raised $25.3 million

UPDATE 02/14/2022: The Sotheby's auction for the coveted Nike Air Force 1 x Louis Vuitton, among the last Virgil Abloh creations before his tragic death last year, officially closed on February 8. With the sale of 200 lots, the auction reached a record $25.3 million raised, an amount that will be donated to The Virgil Abloh™ "Post-Modern" Scholarship Fund making the auction Sotheby's largest charity sale in nearly a decade.

As communicated by Louis Vuitton, the auction saw the involvement of a 75% of new buyers of which more than two thirds of the bidders were under 40 years old. Significant figures that obviously represent the audience most interested in the world of sneakers, especially those extremely limited and with prices well above the norm. The auction had over 10,000 bidders with 40% of the buyers coming from Asia, while the highest priced sneakers sold were size 5s, which fetched $352,800, more than 23 times the maximum estimate of $15,000.

Although the first rumors spoke of an imminent release, the Nike Air Force 1 x Louis Vuitton will not have a classic drop as usual, but instead will be auctioned off to finance the scholarship found "Post Modern" established by Virgil Abloh. The 200 pairs available, available in an exclusive colorway and from size 5 to 18, will be sold on sothebys.com from January 26 to February 8 with a base auction of $ 2000.

In addition, each sneaker will be sold with a leather trunk emblazoned with LV's classic embossed monogram, which will be on display on February 8 along with the sneakers in Sotheby's lobby in New York. After being auctioned off, the Nike Air Force 1 x Louis Vuitton will then be released in limited quantities in select Louis Vuitton boutiques.

Seen for the first time last summer, and then reappeared during the last show of Louis Vuitton under the creative direction of Virgil Abloh, the Nike Air Force x LV have won without too much effort the status of release symbol of the sneaker game thanks to their innate ability to combine in a single shoe the charm of the French fashion house, the cultural weight of Abloh and the importance of one of the most famous silhouettes in the history of Nike.

Originally planned for the end of last year, the release has been postponed for reasons that are still unclear, from a sign of respect for the passing of Virgil Abloh to the now well-known supply chain problem that has affected Nike in recent months. Despite this, the Air Force x LV could arrive earlier than expected, precisely in February 2022, as reported by resell site @Ready2Cop. Although we can not verify for sure, the possible release would be included in the arrival of the Spring/Summer 2022 collection, expected precisely online and instore next month.

While waiting for official information, we invite you to continue to follow nss magazine for all updates on the release.