The 2020 Tokyo Olympics have come to a close and, as is the case when big pop culture moments coincide with big sneaker and apparel releases, StockX data shows that sneakerheads were definitely influenced by what they saw on their screens.
According to data shared exclusively with Highsnobiety, searches for the Olympics were up 300 percent on StockX between July 23 and August 8. What was happening (and being worn) in Tokyo caught the eyes of sneakerheads worldwide, who then turned to platforms such as StockX to satiate their hunger for new products.
One of the biggest “winners” of the Olympics was Dutch artist Piet Parra, who collaborated with Nike on a set of federation kits for the skateboarding teams from Brazil, Japan, France, and the USA, as well as a pair of co-branded SB Dunk Lows.
While the SB Dunk Lows were one of the most popular Dunks to drop as part of Nike’s unofficial “Olympics” pack, it was his federation kits that caused the biggest splash on StockX.
The range of jerseys initially retailed for $100, but the Japanese federation kit resells around $176 on the platform. That’s a 76 percent markup, which is impressive regardless of the type of product.
Driving the popularity of the kit was the Japanese team’s performance at the Olympics. When Yuto Horigome, Sakura Yosozumi, and Momiji Nishiya all won gold medals, sales for the jersey increased by 200 percent.
After Horigome medaled, the average sale price also rose (by 20 percent, no less), further proving that the value and popularity of tangible consumer goods are intrinsically linked to real-life performances. Underlining this is the fact that the Japanese federation kit has been one of the top 10 best-selling pieces of apparel globally since the Olympics kicked off.
It’s not a new phenomenon that pop culture events have an effect on resale prices. The best example was last year’s The Last Dance, which resulted in massive spikes in value for retro Air Jordans featured on the docu-series. Back then, it was Michael Jordan and Nike’s Jordan Brand that were the biggest winners. This time, according to the StockX data, Piet Parra and Nike (again) came out on top.
In addition to Parra’s SB Dunk Low (which had almost 4,000 sales on StockX and resold for nearly four times retail), another Nike SB sneaker made history. One pair of the SB Zoom Stefan Janoski Slip that was worn by Horigome sold for over $200, setting a record for the highest price for that model at nearly two times the average price.
The numbers stated aren’t outlandish (like last year’s The Last Dance data), however, it’s still worth noting that real life events have an impact on the resale market — especially if you’re looking to buy or sell a few pairs yourself.