BBCHundreds of so-called ‘sneakerheads’ made their way to Leeds Royal Armouries on Sunday to buy and sell trainers, with rare pairs selling for as much as £400. More than 120 vendors were at Crepe City – part of a series of events in London, Manchester, Paris, Madrid and Cologne – that allow collectors to socialise and trade.
Buyers Gabriel Coyne, 24, and Grace Tointon, 25, from Lincolnshire, have come along to check out what is on offer.
“I think trainers show a bit of a good personality,” says Gabriel. “When you’re wearing unique shoes, it lets people know you like to experiment a little bit with your shoes.
“I used to buy a lot of trainers. I used to be on it with new releases but over the last few years I’ve kind of dropped off a bit. But when I saw this event I thought I’d check it out.”
Gabriel is wearing his most expensive pair.
“These cost about £700,” he says. “They kind of look like denim. The guy did a good job when he sold them to me. I was very impulsive.”
Sellers Natalie and Kate Winhurst, from Doncaster, are attending the event for the first time.
The couple have four young foster children and balance the business with working full-time.
Natalie has about 50 pairs in her collection, but she says she never pays for them herself.
She says: “Kate treats me to them all but I think my most expensive are my Nike Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1 Olives and I think she paid nearly £500 for these.
“I like the designs, I like being in the know about things, I like knowing what the up-to-date things are, what’s the need-to-have trainer at the time.
“Then there’s the sheer knowledge that you can share across the community of trainer selling and streetwear selling, it’s a lovely community.
Sellers Jamie and Sarah Chaplin have travelled from Nottingham for their first event.
They got into selling when Jamie’s collection got too big for their home.
Jamie says: “I’ve always loved them and started buying them for myself but then it became an obsession. But a good obsession in my eyes.
“We only started six months ago, I had 10 pairs, now we’ve got like 100 pairs. You just get carried away with it, but we enjoy it, it’s something to do.”
Sarah says she persuaded Jamie to get into selling because he could enjoy the shopping without it costing them so much.
“We just thought, well, if you love trainers so much why not do it so that you can still buy them, still do all the shopping, but hopefully the owner gets a bit of a reward rather than being out of pocket all the time,” she says.
“We also professionally clean them, so we did like a cleaning business and then that manifested into selling as well. You can have worse obsessions, can’t you?”
Jamie says while the most he has spent on a pair of trainers so far is £300-£400, he is currently looking at a pair that cost £1,500.
He says: “They’re so in demand because it’s a Nike brand and they don’t make them again. You get loads of Nikes which are one offs.”
Sarah adds: “I’m the devoted wife that’s come along on the journey. Trainers aren’t my thing at all. I’m more of a heels girl.”
Eden Walker, from Hartlepool, also began selling after starting a shoe cleaning business.
He has about 60 pairs in his collection.
Eden says: “I’ve probably been selling now for about eight or nine months.
“I also collect myself, it’s quite a bad habit with me selling and keeping pairs. I’m a nightmare for it. It’s trying to make space in the house, but man it’s an absolute nightmare.”
