As Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) spoke at Wednesday’s history-making inauguration, a pair of blurry shoes cladding the feet of an attendee behind her snatched sneakerheads’ attention.
One of last year’s hottest ticket items, the Dior Air Jordan 1s only became publicly available via a raffle in July. Though they originally sold for a stunning $2,200, resale prices soared even higher, surpassing $10,000 at one point on StockX.
Intrigue over who had gotten their hands on the hard-to-get kicks swept the Twittersphere. The mystery didn’t last long though, with sleuths eventually sussing out Nikolas Ajagu, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece Meena Harris, as the rare sneakers’ owner.
Meena Harris later wrote on Twitter that Ajagu had asked her whether he should bring the Jordans or simply wear dress shoes. “I didn’t know which Js he was considering, and apparently I was in a jolly mood so I said ‘Do what makes you happy,’” she tweeted.
Ajagu was not the only one spotted wearing Air Jordans at the inauguration, however. According to sneaker news site Nice Kicks, Maisy Biden, President Joe Biden’s granddaughter, came to the ceremony wearing the Air Jordan 1 Mid “Sisterhood.”
On the more traditional side of inaugural footwear, both the vice president and first lady showed up sporting classic pumps by mainstay designers.
As she was sworn in as the first female and first Black and South Asian vice president, Harris wore a pair of Manolo Blahnik BB pumps. Apparently a fan of the British label, she wore the designer’s Pascalare boots the night before as well.
As the senator-turned-veep took her oath, some supporters at home expressed their solidarity by donning Converse’s Chuck Taylors and pearls, two go-to items for the now vice president. Harris herself was seen sporting that same look earlier this month on the much-derided cover of Vogue’s February issue. In the wake of the opprobrium, the fashion bible has promised to print an alternative cover.
Harris has proven to be a significant fashion influencer in the past. After being seen wearing Timberland boots last year, global search platform Lyst reported searches for the footwear style grew 376 percent week-on-week.
Meanwhile, First Lady Jill Biden donned two pairs of Jimmy Choo heels Wednesday. Starting the day off in the brand’s nude Love pump, she was later seen walking down the steps of the Capitol in a Romy pump to match her ocean blue wool dress and overcoat.