- [Narrator] This is one of the world's
biggest collections of vintage Vans.
It's owned by Henry Davies.
- From 1966, first year of production.
Exclusive Italian customs.
Vans clown shoes.
Crazy Converse Jams.
- [Narrator] It includes shoes, skateboards,
stickers, and clothing.
- So I've been collecting nearly 20 years.
I've always been very obsessive and
kinda a hoarder in my young days.
- [Narrator] He splits the collection
between the Vans shop in London's Soho,
and a storeroom in Clapton.
- So I've been in London 13 years,
grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney,
grew up surfing and skateboarding,
and I found that the original,
American-made Vans were of such integrity
you could still wear 20, 30-year-old shoes.
- [Narrator] The first Vans store was opened
in California in 1966.
The brand was associated with
skateboarding, BMX, and punk rock.
It makes between 70 and 85 million
pairs of sneakers each year,
but the vintage resale market is huge.
- So when did the collection reach the next level?
Yeah, what started me trying to buy shoes for myself
and then buying any size that I could find
with the idea to try and sell at some point,
and it quickly got out of hand.
You know, I was in a shared house,
and I'd taken over the whole house
with just crap everywhere.
There was no alternative but to set up shop.
- [Narrator] The collection features nearly
700 pairs of vintage sneakers.
There are some weird and wonderful pieces
including kids shoes.
- This one is a style 98 slip-on
from the late '80s.
This skateboarding dinosaur in skate highs and Wayfarers.
The incredible firetruck shoebox.
- [Narrator] And clown shoes.
- A staff member who would promote store openings
used to dress up as a clown.
Vans realized that they could produce
legitimate clown shoes.
The clowns found out.
There's actually a normal Vans shoe within it.
Ronald McDonald, the McDonald's clowns actually
officially wore Vans shoes for a time.
- [Narrator] There's a discontinued Disney line
and the Holy Grail of collectables.
- So one of the Holy Grails for collectors has become
the style 137 collaboration with Madrid Skateboards,
the core innovation of '80s skate.
Some of these were donated, just completely destroyed shoes,
and to me, these are works of art in themselves.
- [Narrator] His storeroom is like
a treasure trove of cool sneakers.
It used to function as the main outlet
before he started selling out of the Vans store in Soho.
- Much of the personal archive
that I've built for the brand
is still out here based on limited space,
and some options of the sale product are still here,
and I relocate them over time.
Some Converse, crazy Converse Jams.
Jams World were the first producer of board shorts
out of Hawaii, like crazy-printed board shorts.
From 1966, first year of production,
style 23, basketball low.
Kind of looks like a Converse
but branded with House of Vans.
- [Narrator] The most Henry has sold a pair for
is just over $2,100.
- The sourcing methods differ a lot.
The majority, I'm sitting online all day looking.
I mean, it's not as glamorous as it sounds.
You're looking on auction sites.
But yeah, occasionally, you're out on the road in the wild,
and you'll discover an old shop,
or you've heard about this warehouse.
One strange experience was
this guy was describing the surf shop that
he had in the Midwest in the US, and he said,
"Yeah, my basement is loaded with shop,
you know, dead stock,"
so that was pretty wild.
I'd flew out, turned up on his doorstep,
demanded that I get into the basement
and dig through boxes to the ceiling
for a full day.
- [Narrator] He even designed his own pair.
- My first shoe design,
which I collaborated with a friend in Japan.
He works for Moonstar, which is a factory
that's been producing shoes
in the same way in Japan since 1873.
- [Narrator] Visitors to his collection at the Vans store
are a mixture of tourists and hardcore sneaker fans.
He often gets contacted over his Instagram, Pillowheat.
- I mean, the desire is the important thing
to really make it work.
There are pockets of people around the world
normally linked with surf, skate, BMX culture
that really buy into what I'm doing.
- [Narrator] You can visit the collection
in London's Carnaby Street, or Clapton by appointment.
Think you'd want this many sneakers?
Comment below.