Stadium Goods and Sotheby's Auction Is Your Shot at Owning 100 of the Rarest Sneakers

You don't have to be a full-on sneakerhead to know that sneakers aren't just for wearing anymore. They're for designing, for dropping, for buying and reselling and restocking. They're even for auctioning. Sneaker reseller Stadium Goods and famed auction house Sotheby's are putting on an auction with an online offering of 100 of the rarest sneakers ever produced.

The auction, which will run until July 23, marks a cultural turning point in the world of sneaker hype. It's not just for fun; it represents the meeting of shoe, design, sports, and artistry. Sotheby's involvement is the real stamp of approval on that, too. It's kind of like inducting something into a museum; it shows that an item—in this case, a sneaker—has artistic, historic value. It also brings the shoes to a world beyond just the resell market, which means people who might never participate in sneaker culture will be exposed to its impact.

Now, for the sneakers themselves. These aren't shoes so much as they are artifacts. Take Nike's Moon Shoe, for example. It was made for runners in the '72 Olympic Trials, with a
You can take a look at the whole collection online now, or, if you're in New York City, see it in person at Sotheby's on the Upper East Side until July 23. If art collecting isn't really your thing, maybe sneaker collecting can be instead. We imagine these shoes will be

This story originally appeared on Esquire.com. Minor edits have been made by the Esquiremag.ph editors.