Big Number
Christie’s closed the Handbags x Hype: The Luxury Remix curated auction on Dec. 8, achieving a total of $2.9 million.
The sale, which began on
Nov. 24, spanned offerings from Hermès, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci handbags to Judith Leiber items, collaboration pieces by Supreme, Off-White and Rimowa and even a signed Donda bulletproof vest worn by Kanye West during one of his listening events in August 2021 and an accompanying 1-of-1 NFT that sold for $75,000.
Game-worn, dual-signed Air Jordan XIII sneakers from Michael Jordan's last regular season game between the Chicago Bulls against the New York Knicks led the sale at $375,000 followed by items such as a rare Bleu Marine, White, Orange Faubourg Sellier Birkin 20 that sold for $175,000; a Matte White Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 35 that sold for $137,500, and a Braise Porosus Crocodile Birkin 25 that achieved $62,500.
In addition, a complete collection of Nike x Off-White sneakers by Virgil Abloh sold for $62,500; a Supreme pinball machine sold for $52,500; a complete set of Kanye West Adidas Yeezy 350s reached $37,500; a Coco Chanel Bearbrick sold for $35,000, exceeding over three times its high estimate, and a
Pearl x Supreme five-drum set realized $16,250.
This sale is a follow-up to Christie's first online auction of the same name in 2019 that featured similar brands, including Hermès and Supreme, and a follow-up to a dedicated Supreme auction in 2018. The first Handbags x Hype sale pulled in $2.1 million led by an Hermès matte white Himalaya Niloticus Crocodile Birkin 30 and a Louis Vuitton x Supreme Monogram Malle Courrier 90 Trunk that each sold for $125,000.
While this year's edition surpassed the previous year's results and the Air Jordan XIII may be the highest-selling pair of Jordan XIII sneakers, it is the third highest pair of Jordan sneakers ever sold, following a game-worn pair of Air Jordan 1 sneakers from 1985 that sold at Sotheby's for $560,000 and a game-worn pair of Air Jordan 1 sneakers from an exhibition game in 1985 for Stefanel Trieste in Italy that sold for $615,000 at Christie's.
A pair of game-worn Nike
Air Ship sneakers are the highest-selling pair of sneakers to ever be worn by Michael Jordan, achieving $1.4 million at Sotheby's, but the most expensive pair of sneakers ever sold belongs to the Nike Air Yeezy. Sotheby's sold a prototype Nike Air Yeezy from West's 2008 Grammy Awards performance for $1.8 million in April 2021.
— OBI ANYANWU