A pair of shoes in a Portland donation box was discovered to be a rare Nike Air Jordan made for filmmaker Spike Lee.
The incident occurred in April at the Burnside Shelter of the Portland Rescue Mission in Portland, Oregon. According to the Mission, a longtime shelter resident discovered the shoes – which were in new condition – while sorting through the items in the shelter’s donation box. No message accompanied the shoes and the donor was completely anonymous. The matter soon reached Ed Holcomb, director of the program, who immediately recognized the edition.
The Nike Air Jordan 3 Retro was the first (and only time) worn by renowned filmmaker Spike Lee in 2019 during the 91st Academy Awards. The shoes, which were soon dubbed “Spike Lee Oscar shoes”, were seen prominently when Lee received the award for his film BlacKkKlansman. The gold-colored shoes carried the logo of Lee’s production company, as well as the signature of the filmmaker and Tinker Hatfield (the designer of the shoes).
While the shoes found in Portland were not the same as those worn by Spike Lee, they belonged to the same series. The limited production of the series meant the shoes – especially given their near-perfect condition – were a rarity. Holcomb first consulted a high-end sneaker resale shop in the area, which offered $10,000 immediately for the pair.
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Convinced that the shoes could fetch more, Holcomb and the Mission contacted the designed Hatfield, who confirmed the authenticity of the shoes and provided documentation for the same. Last week, the shoes went on auction at Sotheby’s and fetched a total price of $50,800. While the auction house kept the fees, the full hammer price went towards the Portland Rescue Mission.
