PORTLAND, Ore. — Editor's note: the video above aired prior to the close of the auction.
A pair of rare Nike sneakers donated to a Portland homeless shelter have sold for $50,800 at auction, bringing in more than twice as much as the Portland Rescue Mission expected to earn from the sale.
An anonymous donor dropped the Nike Air Jordan 3 sneakers into the homeless shelter's donation chute back in April, and the gold shoes caught the attention of James Free when he sorted through the bin. The shoes turned out to be one of just a handful of size 12.5 pairs custom-made for film director Spike Lee for the 2019 Academy Awards, where Lee took home an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for "BlacKkKlansman."
Lee had commissioned the sneakers from Nike designer Tinker Hatfield, and Hatfield ultimately visited the shelter in Portland and authenticated the shoes, even donating a replacement box and signed design proof to be auctioned off along with the sneakers as a fundraiser.
The collection was entered into Sotheby's Emergence Auction, where it was listed with an estimated value of $15,000 to $20,000, with 100% of the proceeds set to go back to the Portland Rescue Mission. The auction closed Monday, and the shoes ultimately sold for more than double the top end of the listed range.
The listing on the Sotheby's website has been updated as of Monday to show the final total, although it doesn't reveal who submitted the winning bid for the sneakers.
Erin Holcomb, director of staff ministries for the Portland Rescue Mission, said the shelter reached out to Lee's company to see if anyone was missing a pair of the custom shoes, but never heard back, so the identity of the donor and the exact route the shoes took to find their way to the shelter remain a mystery.
