A vintage pair of Steve Jobs’ Birkenstocks palm slippers have been sold at auction for $200,000, which is approximately N87 million.
This is the highest price ever paid at auction for a pair of slippers, according to the auction house.
CNN reported that the IT pioneer’s brown suede Arizona sandals, which were estimated to sell for $60,000, actually sold for an astounding $218,750 at Julien’s Auctions over the weekend.
The palm slippers were a staple in Jobs’ wardrobe during the 1970s and 1980s, according to the Californian auction house, and were characterized as “highly used” but still “intact” before the auction. Complications from pancreatic cancer claimed Jobs’ life in 2011.
The cork and jute footbed retains the imprint of Steve Jobs’ feet, which had been shaped after years of use,” the auction house said on its website.
According to the report, a former home manager to Steve Jobs, Mark Sheff, rescued the Birkenstocks from the garbage during one of the tech icon’s numerous clean-outs.
“Steve Jobs changed the world not only with his revolutionary innovations but with his business leadership style and fashion in wearing sandals,” the CEO and founder of Julien’s Auctions, Darren Julien, told CNN in a statement on Monday.
“These beloved Birkenstocks were worn by Jobs as he made history in the making of the Apple computer and were the tech icon’s signature staple.”
The shoes were offered for auction as part of Julien’s Auctions’ “Icons and Idols: Rock ‘n’ Roll” public sale, which also featured artefacts, apparel, instruments, and jewelry belonging to performers and icons like Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon.
In October of last year, a pair of Michael Jordan’s Nike Air Ships that fetched $1.47 million at auction broke the previous record for the most money ever paid for a pair of sneakers.
