10 of the World's Rarest Sneakers
The sneakersphere is filled with one-offs and rare releases, so we thought we would curate a list to show you some of the rarest sneakers out there. From Yeezy to ASICS, all the way to bespoke Air Force 1s, we've got them covered. Take a look down below at some of the world's rarest sneakers.
Nike Air Yeezy 1 'Grammy'
Worn by Kanye himself at the Grammy Awards back in 2008, these beauties announced his partnership with Nike. The Swoosh and 'Ye never actually brought these into production, so they've been etched into sneaker history as one of the rarest kicks ever.
Going for upwards of $50,000, these could literally break the bank if you copped.
DJ Khaled x The Shoe Surgeon Air Jordan 1
Back in 2017, DJ Khaled's Grateful album dropped. You could say we were grateful when it finally debuted, but we were even more grateful to see what the The Shoe Surgeon had cooked up to celebrate. Some uber clean Air Jordan 1s, made with 18K gold emblems, placed in a wooden box and accompanied by a hand-wrapped bottle of champagne.
DJ Khaled definitely didn't play himself with these!
Yeezy BOOST 700 VX
There are many Yeezy samples out there, but these are by far one of the coolest. It's a BOOST 700 model, kicked up a notch with 700 branding and an in-your-face colourway. These crazy Yeezys were a gift to the manager of 6ix9ine, Tr3yway Shotti. Nothing else about these kicks is available, so we doubt they'll ever see the light of day.
Backwards Swoosh Air Jordan 1 'Shattered Backboard'
Factory flaws usually mean kicks decrease in value because of quality control issues. Yet, sometimes it can also raise the value beyond belief. Like when Andrea Canziani ordered a pair of 'Shattered Backboard' Air Jordan 1s online and the model arrived with a backwards Swoosh! A pair of the 'Gold Toe' AJ1s recently turned up with the same factory defect and sold for a whopping $96,000. So it's fair to say that the defective 'Shattered Backboard' AJ1s would be worth a pretty penny.
ASICS x Afew GEL-Lyte III 'Black Koi'
Back in 2015, and continuing on from their 'Koi' colab with ASICS, Afew decided to produce another GEL-Lyte III. This time dubbed the 'Black Koi'. It was created as a 1-of-1, and the shoe was auctioned off on May 23 in 2015, with all proceeds going to a Düsseldorf-based children’s hospital.
Sneaker Freaker x BespokeIND Air Force 1s
Back in 2016, we unveiled two Air Force 1s made of the leather from Sherrin footballs – the ball used in Australian Rules football. Created by our friends over at BespokeIND, two Nike AF-1s were ripped apart and put back together using day (red) and night (yellow) Sherrins. These one-of-one Grails currently sit in our shoe box–inspired meeting room, basking in all their glory.
Now that's one way to rep 'Straya!
Yeezy BOOST 350 V2 'Midnight Blue'
Another Yeezy sample for all you 'Ye fans to drool over. This one was shown back in 2017 by YEEZY MAFIA, and is a 'Midnight Blue' colourway of the extremely popular BOOST 350 V2 model. Take a look at the sample pics, and then pray that these somehow hit shelves.
Air Jordan 1 PE
'A symbol of his fight', brave cancer survivor Millad Mesriani was given the unique opportunity to design his own Air Jordan 1. Boasting sword hang tags, a hard-hitting Royal Blue on the Swoosh and collar, and a meaningful design, these AJ1s are probably the most valuable out of the lot.
Yeezy Basketball
While Kanye has now unleashed his adidas Yeezy BSKTBL 'Quantum', there was a time we were waiting patiently for a Yeezy Basketball sneaker to hit the court in. Interestingly, the 'Quantum' doesn't really look like this sample pair of blacked out Yeezy ballers which, naturally, makes them even rarer.
Ronnie Fieg x ASICS GEL-Lyte III 'Mossad'
Inspired by an elite taskforce that serves in Israel, Ronnie Fieg and ASICS teamed up on the GEL-Lyte III. Dressed in olive pig suede, and given bright orange hits, they were debuted through a special one-of-one giveaway before receiving a wider release.