Steve Jobs’ old Birkenstocks from the 70s sell for $356,000 at auction

The brown suede sandals were worn during "many pivotal moments in Apple's history". Photo / Getty Images

Steve Jobs’ used Birkenstocks sold for an eye-watering US$218,000 (NZ$356,354) at auction.

The late Apple founder’s crumpled leather sandals, still with the imprint of his feet, had previously been sold for $2000 ($3258) by his former house manager, Mark Sheff, in 2016.

The tech mogul died from pancreatic cancer in 2011, aged 56, and left behind an array of items that ended up in Sheff’s possession.

Jobs was most famous for his love of black turtleneck sweaters, but his former partner, Chrisann Brennan, previously shared the iPhone and Mac creator’s penchant for Birkenstocks.

She said in 2018: “The sandals were part of his simple side. They were his uniform. The great thing about a uniform is that you don’t have to worry about what to wear in the morning.”

The footwear went under the hammer at Julien’s and was only estimated to fetch between $60,000 ($97,743) and $80,000 ($130,324).

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A description on the auction house’s website read: “The sandals are well used, but still appear intact.

“The cork and jute footbed retains the imprint of Steve Jobs’ feet, which had been shaped after years of use. The rubber soles of the sandals show heavy wear from use.”

Jobs is said to have worn the shoes at key moments in his career, including the garage in Los Altos, where Jobs and his business partner Steve Wozniak founded Apple.

The late fashion icon Issey Miyake - who passed away from liver cancer on August 5, 2022 aged 84 - was behind the tech visionary’s style,

According to Walter Isaacson’s book ‘Steve Jobs’, the latter once said: “So I asked Issey to make me some of his black turtlenecks that I liked, and he made me like a hundred of them.”