Nike Air Yeezy 1 'Net/Tan'

A rapper's shoe at Nike

Kanye West worked on the Air Yeezy with Nike from 2007 to 2009, first with Nike creative director Mark Smith and Tiffany Beers, and later with designer Nathan VanHook. It was Nike's first full collaboration with someone who was not an athlete, and West has been described as the first non-athlete to get a shoe deal with the company.

The design borrowed from Nike's past. The midsole drew on the Air Jordan III and the outsole on the Air Tech Challenge II, a Nike tennis shoe. West added things no sneaker of the era had: a strap across the laces, 'Y' lace locks, and an outsole that glowed in the dark, an echo of his Glow in the Dark Tour.

The prototype West wore at the Grammys carried only a tonal Swoosh overlay on the heel. The Swoosh was not the point: the shoe was sold on West's name.

From a Grammy stage to the stores

The world first saw the Air Yeezy on February 10, 2008, when West performed 'Hey Mama' and 'Stronger' at the 50th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, a performance that served as a tribute to his mother, Donda, who had died in November 2007. He wore a black leather prototype with pink 'Y' lace locks.

Nike released three colorways in 2009: 'Zen' grey on April 4, a black and pink pair collectors call 'Blink' on May 4, and the 'Net' on June 1. They went to Nike's top-tier accounts, a small number of high-end shops. The tan 'Net' was the last of the run.

It was the year between West's 808s & Heartbreak, released in November 2008, and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy in 2010. In 2009 he also interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards and was removed from the rest of the show.

How the 'Net' is identified

The Net is the most muted of the three. The upper is soft tan leather, with suede overlays, a patent leather midfoot strap and a pink-lined collar. Instead of the all-over 'Y' print of the earlier pairs it has 'Yeezy' pull tabs, a white midsole and a glow-in-the-dark outsole.

Look for style code 366164-111 and the colorway listed as Net/Net on the size tag, along with the pink collar lining, the 'Yeezy' pull tabs and an outsole that glows in the dark.

Nike has not published how many pairs were made. One European seller estimates that fewer than 5,000 pairs of the Net exist; treat that as an estimate, not a count.

Prices

Reports of the retail price disagree. Most sources give $215; one release listing gives $250. On the resale market the shoe has long since left those numbers behind: in October 2026 the lowest listing at one U.S. sneaker shop was $10,551, and a European seller put its value at around 5,000 euros.

The Air Yeezy 1 also produced the most famous sneaker sale of its time, though not for a Net. In April 2021, the black leather prototype West wore at the 2008 Grammys sold in a private sale for $1.8 million, the first pair of sneakers to top $1 million, beating the $615,000 paid for a pair of 1985 Air Jordan 1s.

The start of Yeezy

The Air Yeezy 1 was the beginning of everything that carried the Yeezy name. The Air Yeezy 2 followed in 2012, and West left Nike in the fall of 2013, saying the company would not pay him royalties because he was not a professional athlete. At his new partner, he launched the Yeezy Boost 750 in 2015 and the Yeezy Boost 350 the same year.

That partnership ended in October 2022, when the company terminated it over West's antisemitic remarks. The Nike pairs, made in small numbers before any of that, remain the original Yeezys, and the tan Net was the last of the first.

The numbers

Release date

June 1, 2009

Retail price

$215 per most sources; $250 per one release listing

Style code

366164-111

Colorway

Net/Net (tan)

Air Yeezy 1 colorways

Zen (April 4, 2009), Blink (May 4, 2009), Net (June 1, 2009)

Production numbers

Not published by Nike; one seller estimates fewer than 5,000 Net pairs

Timeline

1. 2007

   Kanye West begins developing the Air Yeezy with Nike's Mark Smith.

2. Nov 2007

   West's mother, Donda West, dies.

3. Feb 10, 2008

   West wears an Air Yeezy prototype performing at the 50th Grammy Awards.

4. Apr 4, 2009

   The 'Zen' Air Yeezy releases.

5. May 4, 2009

   The black and pink 'Blink' releases.

6. Jun 1, 2009

   The 'Net' releases, the third and final Air Yeezy 1.

7. Jun 9, 2012

   The Air Yeezy 2 releases.

8. 2013

   West leaves Nike in the fall for a new sneaker partner.

9. Feb 9, 2014

   Nike releases the last Nike Yeezy, the Air Yeezy 2 'Red October.'

10. Apr 2021

    West's Grammy-worn Air Yeezy prototype sells privately for $1.8 million.

11. Oct 2022

    West's later sneaker partnership is terminated over his antisemitic remarks.

The world in 2008

• Nov 2008

  West releases 808s & Heartbreak.

• Jan 15, 2009

  US Airways Flight 1549 ditches in the Hudson River; all 155 aboard survive.

• Jan 20, 2009

  Barack Obama is inaugurated as the 44th president.

• Feb 1, 2009

  The Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII.

• Jun 25, 2009

  Michael Jackson dies.

• 2009

  West interrupts Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Nike Air Yeezy 1 'Net/Tan' is number 27 of 100 in the sneakers entries of the FLOAT 100. 22 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (90 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Air Yeezy was Nike's first full collaboration with a non-athlete.
• Its outsole was based on the Air Tech Challenge II, a tennis shoe.
• The outsole glows in the dark, a nod to West's Glow in the Dark Tour.
• The prototype West wore at the 2008 Grammys became the first sneakers to sell for more than $1 million.
• The Net was the only Air Yeezy 1 without the all-over 'Y' print of the earlier pairs.