I Have The World's Biggest Vans Collection | HOOKED ON THE LOOK
Henry Davis is a man obsessed with all things Vans - and he has the world’s biggest collection of the iconic skate shoes. Over the years Henry has dedicated his time and money to tracking down rare and old pairs of Vans trainers, he told Truly: “If I were to part with or sell the collection at some point it would be on the level of buying a house.” He has been collecting the shoes and other Vans related products for over twenty years and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. Storing his collection at his store The Otherside Of The Pillow in Clapton, East London, Henry also has a shop called Pillowheat based in Carnaby St which he describes as: "the global mecca for all things Vans USA, part archive and part commercial vintage store.” Wearing and collecting the shoes bring Henry an immense amount of joy. Truly caught up with Henry at his store in Carnaby St, to see his incredible collection and learn more about what got him hooked on the Vans brand.
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00:00 I have the biggest collection of original USA made bands.
00:04 So the brand's tagline is off the wall.
00:09 It doesn't get more off the wall than this.
00:12 If I were to part with or to sell the collection
00:15 at some point, it would be on the level of buying a house.
00:18 Who I wanna disclose the most I've ever paid
00:22 for a pair of bands.
00:28 So this is an insight into my day to day operations
00:31 of buying and sourcing these shoes.
00:33 Here's a pair I prepared earlier
00:38 from the Vans Country Western Collection in 1981.
00:43 My interest and passion in Vans began about 20 years ago,
00:50 looking for something vintage that I could still wear.
00:55 I get the question often, what's my favorite piece?
00:58 And unquestionably, it is the era
01:03 and specifically the blue and red combinations
01:06 from the mid seventies.
01:08 The trajectory of the Vans brand
01:11 went a completely different direction
01:13 when this shoe was produced.
01:16 Yeah, I think it's undeniable
01:18 that I have the world's biggest collection of Vans.
01:21 It's kind of wild to admit
01:24 if I were to part with or to sell the collection
01:27 at some point, it would be on the level of buying a house.
01:31 This is an award that I received personally
01:35 from Steve Van Doren.
01:37 I give a (beep) obviously.
01:39 So Steve Van Doren is the son of the founder of Vans
01:42 and Steve's my hero.
01:44 Meeting him was such an important moment
01:47 which really galvanized and crystallized what I was doing
01:51 and gave it great meaning.
01:53 I was buying with the idea to sell at some point.
01:57 Maybe it was gonna be a market stall,
01:59 maybe it was gonna be an eBay store,
02:01 maybe I was gonna open a shop
02:02 and an opportunity came up to sign a six month lease
02:06 on a shop and I went for it.
02:08 And 13 years later, I'm still doing it.
02:12 The purpose of the space now is essentially storage,
02:14 studio, backup, retail space
02:17 in case things don't work out in Carnaby.
02:21 All right, let's go check out the Carnaby street space.
02:24 Welcome to Pillow Heat.
02:28 The global mecca for Original Vans USA.
02:33 Part archive, part commercial vintage store.
02:39 I got a display cabinet downstairs over 10 years ago
02:44 which they were doing a refit in the store here
02:46 and by chance I met the assistant manager of the store
02:50 and she facilitated my displaying some shoes downstairs.
02:53 So I've had a cabinet there for about 11 years
02:57 which directed people to my store in East London.
03:00 So it was an organic beginning and a fateful thing
03:04 to now 12, 13 years later to be in-house,
03:09 recognized for what I do.
03:11 But having a public archive, a walk-in archive
03:14 with the option and the possibility to buy a piece,
03:19 I can't think of any other brand that offers that.
03:21 So in terms of the commercial inventory,
03:24 this is the majority of the product.
03:26 Yeah, some of the B-stock is back at Clapton which we saw
03:31 but the majority, you know, it's done by sizes here.
03:34 So all the top tier product is here
03:38 and then some of the archives,
03:39 some of the museum that I've built as you come upstairs,
03:42 the big internal marketing pieces are here.
03:47 So the brand's tagline is "Off the wall."
03:52 It doesn't get more off the wall than this.
03:55 There was a staff member who would dress up as a clown
03:57 for store openings.
03:58 Eventually they were commissioning legitimate clown shoes.
04:03 You've got high tops, low tops,
04:05 any combination of print, color.
04:07 Fans mean so much.
04:10 I'm just stoked to be wearing these old world shoes.
04:13 It makes me happy to walk down the street
04:17 with every step.
04:18 The business is 13 years old
04:20 but I still feel like it's just the beginning.
04:23 What can I say?
04:24 This brand is in my heart.
04:25 I'm hooked.
04:27 (upbeat music)
04:29 (whooshing)
04:31 (whooshing)
04:33 (whooshing)
04:35 (whooshing)
04:38 [BLANK_AUDIO]