Kanye West's $1.8 million Yeezy Sneakers To Be Available To The Public As Shares

Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy sneakers have been sold for the staggering sum of $1.8 million, becoming the most expensive pair of shoes to be sold.

The shiny hightop shoes, which were designed by Kanye himself and Mark Smith, and were worn by the hyper-talented rapper at the 50th Grammy Awards, come in size 12 and feature a soft black leather top part, a Yeezy strap at the forefoot, some perforated details, and signature "Y" medallion lace locks in pink.

The shoes, which were in possession of international brokers, Sotheby's, were sold to Rares. However, Rares plans to do something unusual with the shoes - put it up for the public to invest in, just like a stock.

The company, which was founded a year ago, calls itself a social investing platform that allows users to invest in sneakers.

According to Gerome Sapp, the co-founder, and CEO, “Kanye is an iconic figure, no matter what people think about him personally,” says Gerome Sapp, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Rares. “We just felt like this shoe was the catalyst for what we wanted to do in terms of fractional ownership.”

He took his Instagram two days ago, to post a screenshot of the news.

The number of shares and the price they'll sell for hasn't been disclosed, however, CEO Sapp has clarified that the company will be going IPO, but will not be making a profit.

“For us, it was an opportunity to buy an iconic sneaker. 

There’s no guarantee that the market will pay us what we paid for it. We thought that this is what the shoe is worth, and more importantly, we want to bring this to the culture and community that have been priced out of the high shoe collectible market," He said.

The shares will be released to the public on the 16th of June via the company's website and will be its first offering.

The shoes, which were worn by Kanye in 2008, set the tone for the launch of his widely successful line, Yeezy, as well as his entry into the fashion world.

It was the first time an artist got a shoe deal that big, and this sale, over 21 years after the shoes were worn, solidifies Kanye's position as one of the most influential clothing and sneaker designers of this age.

The $1.8 million price tag is three times higher than the previous record holder's tag of $560,000 - a pair of Nike Air Jordan's 1s from 1985, which sold last year May.