You South Africa – 22 August 2019

A WHOLE

LOT OF

SNEAKERS

A Canadian collector has forked out

a fortune at an auction on old trainers,

including R6,5 million for a rare pair

of Nikes BY DENNIS CAVERNELIS

R20million

ontheultra-

raresneak-

ersforhis

private

museum.

lectionofhats,jackets

andhelmets.

In fact, Miles Nadal

owns so many thingshe

houses them in his own privatemuseum
where he can feast his eyesonhisprizes
and show them off to hisfri
So when he heard of anau

tion going down at thefa

Andsobeginsa talethattrulydepicts

howtheotherhalflives.

Miles (61), a hugely successful Cana-

dian entrepreneur who’s amassed a for-

tunebycreating enterprises across

severalindustries, started by snapping

pairs of rare and limited-

tion trainers.

He forked out $850 000

R12,7 million) before the

auction began – but he

couldn’t get his hands on

the main prize: lot 100, a

pair of ultra-rare Nike

Moon Shoes.

Jordan Geller, a full-time

fessional sneaker collec-

tor,owned lot 100 and turned

his noseupatMiles’ offer of $160 000

(R2,4m).

The Moon Shoes,namedforthewaffle

printofthesolewhichissimilartothat

ofastronautfoot

“[Miles’ offer] seemed like a great deal

for everyone but with the Moon Shoes

there was no telling where the price

would end up,” Jordan says.

“My opinion was that any estimate was

a number pulled out of the sky, and I felt

that I wanted to let the market decide

what they’re worth. It was a risk, but I

didn’t want to pull the plug five days

early. I felt as if I’d live to regret not seeing

their way to the finish line.”

It was a shrewd move. On the final day

of the five-day auction, a bidding war

broke out.

“Asit waswindingdown, I was watch-

ingthebidsgofrom$110000, $200 000,

wassosurreal,”

p

ends.

uc-

up 99

edit

prof

tor ow

forhisinstantcollection

ofraresneakers,including

(LEFT)thisR6,5million

unworn pair of Moon Shoes

and (RIGHT) the Nikes from

Back to the Future Part II,

kicks designed by Pharrell

Williams, Air Jordans and

the Nike SB What the Dunk.

Nikeco-founderBillBowermande

theso-calledMoonShoes(ABOVE

RIGHT)in1972.Only 12 pairswere

MilesNadalpaidmillions

for his instant collection

Canadian

entrepreneur

Milesspent

nearly

R20 million

r

E HASalotofcoolstuff

• rare cars, vintage
  motorbikes,priceless
  antiquesand a vastcol-

mousSotheby’s auctionhouseinNew

York,hedecidedhehadtogetinonit.

Awholebunch ofoldsneakerswerefor

sale andhehadtohavethem.

valuablebecauseonly 12pairswereever

made.Thehandcraftedfootwearwasde-

signedbyNikeco-ffounderBillBower-

man for runners at the 1972Olympics.

,

Jordansays.

“Itwasalsosucha reliefformewhen

thebiddingsurpassedwhat I’d turned

down five days earlier.”

signed

E

e made.

86 | 22 AUGUST 2019 you.co.za^

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