UPDATE #25: Beauty is in The Eyes of The Beholder
Hey everyone and welcome back to my journal!
This is a fun update, and one I never thought I would ever have the opportunity of posting…seems like a common theme with obtaining unobtanium things.
This update takes place in
May 2025.
15 Years Ago, This Was My Dream
I remember back when I was 16 (2009), I was somewhat interested in Jordan high-tops. I remember my dad and I going to our local mall’s Foot Locker retail store and him generously buying me a brand new pair of size 12 Air Jordan 1 High-Top HOF 'Hall Of Fame' shoes.
Around that time, I discovered probably the most unique shoe I had ever seen. It was a Jordan 7, but not just any 7 silhouette, this one was inspired by the late Spanish artist,
Joan Miró. A quick Google search of his work and biography will leave you in awe with how astonishing his legacy was.
Legacy, is an increasingly important word that I constantly think about on a daily basis. The legacy we create is based on the impact we have on others in the world. Anecdotally, I have a pair of beautiful Christian Louboutin dress shoes that I wear to work, with the famous painted
red bottoms. Some people repaint, or add red sole protectors to preserve that red-look. The reason I share this story is because my red-bottoms are no longer red, they are worn down to the base, with minimal red showing. The unofficial purpose of the red-bottoms is to leave your footprint on the world.
Having said all that, Miró’s legacy was felt by people of all kinds, even
Michael Jordan. Jordan took inspiration from Miró’s,
Dona i Ocell (Spanish-to-English translation to:
Woman and Bird), a sculpture in Barcelona. Jordan paid homage to Joan Miró by creating this Jordan 7 silhouette, where he honours his time winning the Gold medal with the Dream Team in Barcelona in 1992.
Respectively, a photo of the late Joan Miró with his art, a photo of the
Dona i Ocell sculpture in Barcelona, a rare photo of Michael Jordan holding his Jordan 7 shoe alongside Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, and Scottie Pippen, and a final photo of Jordan, Pippen and Clyde Drexler championing their gold medal in the win against Croatia (pay attention to the colourway of the gold medal ribbon, as it's inspired in the Miro 7s):
I love art. Art is subjective; it is personal; it evokes emotion; and it is expressive. For me, the cars I have built and own, along with how I carry myself through fashion, express how I currently see or want to see my future self. It’s the same reason why my mom always questions why I spend money on the best of the best parts, or why I have to have the most expensive, rarest versions of things, and why I am finding unobtanium things — aside from life being short and #YOLO which still applies for most of my life (jokingly but seriously, thanks mom and dad for making life easier for me), I believe that these material objects culminate who I am — a lover of the arts, and one who appreciates the detail, the history, and the beauty of these very unique things.
So, fast-forward 15+ years later to early 2025. I was able to find a deadstock pair of
Jordan Miro 7s in size 13 on eBay (verified authentic)! For those of you unfamiliar with sneaker-terms,
deadstock means old, discontinued stock that is brand new. Who in there right mind would do that? Typically, collectors or resellers. These shoes were never really a priority of mine to purchase, especially given the big price tag. Having said that, I am in a really good place in my life where work is going superbly, my side-hustles in teaching insurance to adults across Canada is going well, and so I said, "Why not?!" I immediately grabbed my credit card and made it rain $$$. A real juxtaposition: this purchase hurt my wallet, but mended my heart after all these years of patiently awaiting a pair of size 13s; keep in mind, there were only 1,000 pairs ever made (I wonder of those, how many were created in size 13)?!
A part of me wanted to keep these hidden from the world in perfect condition, stashed away in my future office/mancave, but I decided life is too short, and that I can carefully indulge in bringing them out on the rare occasion for the upcoming
The Vaulture Season Opener 2025 Meet. In the future, I will buy another pair of Miro 7s so that I can enjoy one pair and let the other be a glorified version that collects dust in my office.
I also had a Youtube video come out earlier in 2025 showcasing the shoes and the meet:
Enjoy the photos captured respectively by my friends,
Christian Palmer, who I asked to create a vintage look in his photos, and a new friend named
Sean Thomas, owner of AutoLux Imagery Inc:
Concluding Thoughts
Stay tuned for next update. Look carefully, or you just might miss it:
