Bill Bowerman famously poured rubber into a waffle iron to create Nike's first traction outsole — this pair is one of the actual hand-made prototypes born from that kitchen experiment, made for runners at the 1972 U.S. Olympic Trials.
Sotheby's 2019 sale held the Guinness World Record for most expensive sneakers before the Jordan-driven boom overtook it two years later — and the origin story (a literal waffle iron in a garage) is the kind of detail that makes the price make sense.
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