A leather jacket for the AI age
A black Tom Ford leather jacket worn and signed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has sold at a New York auction for $960,000, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $40,000 to $60,000.
The jacket, from Tom Ford’s Spring-Summer 2023 collection, was worn by Huang at Foxconn’s Hon Hai Tech Day in Taipei on October 18, 2023. Its authenticity, including photo matching of Huang wearing the garment and verification of his signature, was confirmed ahead of the sale.
According to Sotheby’s, the auction attracted interest from 45 collectors who submitted 65 bids. “The response to this sale surpassed even our highest expectations,” said Brahm Wachter, Sotheby’s head of modern collectibles.
The final price was around $900,000 above the auction estimate and significantly higher than the jacket’s original retail price of just under $10,000.
The black leather jacket has become closely associated with Huang’s public image, appearing at Nvidia keynotes, technology conferences and major company milestones over the past two decades.
Proceeds from the auction will support the Edge Institute, a non-profit organisation funding fellowships, grants and residencies for young technology builders.
image - Government of India/Wiki Commons
