(CNN) They are heaped up four-high by the door, stacked in boxes along the corridor and piled in a multi-colored wall by the bed.
DJ and brand consultant Kish Kash has so many sneakers in his one-bedroom London apartment, there is little room for anything else.
"I must have a couple of thousand at least, probably more," he told CNN. "It's not about how many you have though, it's about what you have."
Read: How sneakers rose from street to chic
Kash's trainer stash -- he insists it's not a collection, as that implies a conscious effort -- has developed gradually over 30 years, and includes some extremely rare items.
Notably a pair of beige Nike Air Yeezys, the Kanye West collaboration that sneakerheads sat in line for over days -- even weeks -- when the second limited edition run dropped in 2012.
Kash was given the cult shoes by a friend at a New York sneaker shop, who received a batch from the rapper himself.
"I've got a bit of a reputation -- people know I've got a passion for sneakers," says Kash smiling.
Drawn in as a child through his love of football, basketball and hip-hop, the Londoner has become what he describes as a "trainer connoisseur."
His lifelong passion has morphed into a career -- as well as hosting a hip-hop and rap radio show, he's a footwear buyer and has collaborated on a shoe design for Puma.
But unlike some collectors who keep their bounty boxed away, Kash isn't precious about his collection -- it forms an integral part of his daily wardrobe -- though he does admit some pairs are so special he'll never wear or sell them.
"I'm just going out to buy shoes to wear, then I just don't throw them away. For me, trainers are an extension of my aesthetic."
He's not alone. Spurred by collaborations with sports stars, musicians and designers, spread by Instagram and blogs, sneaker culture now permeates the global mainstream.
Until the late 1970s, sports shoes were worn almost exclusively for that -- sport. Now they feature on top catwalks or on President Obama's feet, while Adidas' Stan Smith trainer was dubbed "the shoe of 2015."
"Well they look cool, don't they!" grins Kash, reflecting on the ubiquity of the humble trainer.
"There's the whole allure of their connotations. Within terrace culture for example, going to away games back in the 1970s and '80s and coming back with trainer colors and models that weren't available here," Kash added, referring to English soccer fans following their clubs abroad to European matches and returning home armed with trainers.
"Everyone was like 'I want those!' But they couldn't have them and the desirability increased."
While in the US, Run DMC's 1986 hit "My Adidas" can be credited with infiltrating sneaker style into hip-hop folklore, in the UK it was football fans that upped sportswear's rising fashion stakes.
It all started in the late 1970s with a group of young, disenfranchised football fans from England's northern cities appropriating European leisurewear while traveling to away games and bringing it back to the UK. It sparked a game of fashion "one-upmanship," according to Jockey Wyatt, one of the early adopters.
"The Americans say they started sneaker culture, but theirs was home grown. Whereas in the UK, we actually traveled abroad to get our holy grails. Kids just needed to be different," said Wyatt, who opened a store in Liverpool specializing in rare footwear and apparel.
Neal Heard, author of the book "Trainers", began following the group in the early 80s. Those were the days when English football had a problem with hooliganism.
"Waiting for the away team's fans to turn up at the train station, the crackle in the air was as much about what they were going to be wearing as it was about if any trouble was going to start," said Heard.
"Fashions literally spread around the country after each successive weekend of matches. It was very much about one-upmanship and exclusivity. This was a bit easier to achieve back then before the dawn of internet shopping, but it took a lot more effort."
The trend inspired a whole subculture, known as "The Casuals," "Dressers" or "Trendies" -- working class football fans decked in sportswear brands like Fila, Tachinni, Adidas or Ellesse.
Kash dismisses reports he spent over $300,000 on his collection as "ridiculous," explaining that shoes cost less "back in the day." The most he's ever spent on a pair is £200 -- around $370, 10 years ago.
Now, thanks to his Instagram following, he's lucky enough to be given pairs by brands, but how he manages to find the desired ones to wear each day is a mystery -- there's no system to the storage of his 2,000 plus pairs of shoes.
"It's just instinct. I know where everything is," Kash assures.
From atop the closet he brings down a cardboard box protecting a crisp white leather briefcase, secured with combination lock. It flips open to reveal a pristine pair of all-white, all-leather Adidas superstars, presented with a luxury care kit.
It's one of 150 pairs made for the 35th birthday of the shoe, available only to family and friends of the brand.
"How much are they worth? Who knows. Maybe £2,000-£3,000 ($2,450-3,680), maybe more. I'll never sell them."
Though Kash plans to "prune" his collection to free up some room at home, his motivation isn't financial.
He wants to create an institute that celebrates the heritage of sneaker culture, tying in its influence on fashion, music and sport.
"I'm not a hoarder, I'm an archivist. This is about trying to build a platform on which to express. It's about education, culture and what it means to future generations."