You may have seen a familiar face on your screens if you were watching BBC One on March 12th 2023. If you didn't spot him on TV, you probably heard the buzz about our very own Morgan Weekes (aka @morprimus) dropping his expertise on Antiques Roadshow.
Are shoes the antiques of the future?
Sneakers being collectables is probably nothing new to followers of MORPRIME Industries™. But not everyone holds footwear in such high regard. So, when we were kindly invited down to Belmont House to chew the fat about footwear being antiques of the future, we couldn't pass on the chance to share our encyclopaedic knowledge with a less-familiar audience and showcase our passion to the nation.
With 15 years of collecting under his belt, there was no better person to go along than our main man himself: Morgan Weekes.
Collaborations, storytelling, and scarcity are just a few of the things that help determine a shoe's value and collectability. So, could sneakers be the antiques of the future?
Morgan explains, "What happens is people wear them (shoes), and it limits the supply pool... if you've got 100 shoes, about 50 pairs of those will be worn out in the wild... which brings down the market and size of supply which of course increases the value, so you end up with bidding wars and crazy estimations."
People always long for history, rarity, and beauty when buying antiques. It's not hard to envision a world where footwear falls under the antique category. Just give it time.
Which collectable shoes appeared on Antiques Roadshow?
With a hoard of over 850 pairs to pick from, Morgan took along some absolute heat. Swipe through a few of our antiques-in-waiting below, or head to BBC iPlayer, forward to the 49:06 mark, and watch our main man talk about his passion while the Antiques Roadshow episode is still available.
From Nike, he took along the iconic Christian Tresser-designed Air Max 97 OG (1997), the obscure Air Max Sunder (1999), and the highly sought-after Air Jordan 1 "Banned" (2016).
From Adidas, Morgan presented Sneakersnstuff's Arsenal-inspired adidas Originals SNS GT "London" (2020) and an OG pair of Adidas Equipment Support Guidance (1993). History time: the Equipment Support Guidance was designed by Peter Moore. Yeah, the same Peter Moore you probably know from Nike. Moore was the co-founder of Adidas' EQT line and was responsible for designing the Adidas Mountain logo. He certainly left his mark on Adidas still to this day.
Morgan also brought down our very own MORPRIME x Tommy Triggah x KangaROOS Inside Job 1.5 collaboration (2020), and lastly, he shared one of the oldest and rarest pairs in his collection: the ASICS x McLaren MA-II (1992). History time pt2: only 40-ish pairs of the MA-II were made for the McLaren pit crew. Finding a pair is incredibly rare, especially in such pristine condition. You may see one pop up on eBay from time to time, but they'll cost you a pretty penny for sure.
PS. ITV: give us a shout when you want us on Dickinson's Real Deal.
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