‘Keep your trainers away from mischievous puppies’

Spencer Matthews, television personality

“My wife is the fashionable one; she commandeers most of the wardrobe space, as you can imagine,” says Spencer Matthews, 35, best known for starring in the reality television series

Made in Chelsea. He’s not kidding; the first storey of his glossy south-west London apartment, which he shares with model Vogue Williams and their three children, contains a sumptuous walk-in wardrobe the size of some studio flats. Spencer’s land grab amongst the sequined gowns and stacks of high heels is fairly modest in comparison.

“I’m an absolute sneakerhead,” says the athletic ultra-marathon runner. There’s a gym beside the walk-in wardrobe, as well as a rose-quartz bar stocked with Matthews’s own brand of zero alcohol gin, CleanCo. “So the main thrust of my wardrobe goes towards making sure the trainers are well looked after.” This involves making sure the household’s latest canine addition – an energetic puppy called Bertie – doesn’t chew through the shoes, some of which are rare, special editions.

“I’ve always been a big collector,” says Matthews, whose parents own the elite Eden Rock in St Barts, and whose sister-in-law is Pippa Middleton.

“I love art and I have a big watch collection, but I seriously got into trainers around the time that Nike brought out a collaboration with [cult Paris fashion house] Off-White in 2017 and since then it’s grown.” The world of trainer fandom and the treasure hunting for rare finds has created an entire cottage industry of connoisseurs; Matthews gets many of his from specialists Pastor & Co, and the appreciation in value can run into four figures.

For that reason, trainers are kept uniformly in order and off floor height – and the boxes are kept too; “the box ensures that they’re a complete ‘set’, as it were,” says Matthews.

Matthews is a zealous horophile with a range of collector’s item “grail” timepieces, including ones from Patek Philippe, Rolex and Audemars Piguet. “My biggest love, after my family, is watches and I’ve been collecting for decades, starting with Swatch watches when I was a kid,” he says; given their preciousness, they’re kept off-site.

When it comes to clothing, he loves all things colourful and bright, with a collection of Double RL jackets – the “rustic” range from Ralph Lauren. “I love the fact that they look slightly beaten up and authentic, in these evocative prints,” he says. They’re stored in a collection together, with the rest of his colourful contingent, with the lesser worn and more formal suiting kept upstairs separately. Clothes are kept behind glass doors, allowing for the contents to be seen and showcased, without ever attracting a speck of dust.