Shoe-erly not! Ukrainian man addicted to footwear
Published 02 May, 2008, 08:35
Footwear of all sizes and colours have taken over Nikolay Belchenko’s flat – and his life. Following a childhood ambition, the Ukrainian cobbler has painstakingly built up a collection of more than 10,000 pairs of shoes.
Nikolay Belchenko recalls that after WW2 his family had nothing to wear. So he then vowed that one day he would have more shoes than one can ever imagine.
As a fourth-generation cobbler, he was in the ideal position to repair and collect shoes.
His collection has grown so much over the last 20 years that it forced him out of his flat.
“Here I have a bathroom and a toilet. They are not working now because shoes are more important than people,” says Nikolay Belchenko, who’s divorced.
He lives with his ex-wife now, but apparently she’s threatened to kick him out if he doesn’t curb his shoe habit.
His garage, shoe repair booth and his car are also inundated with footwear.
“Not a lot of people share my hobby. Even my own brother told me that no one needs this collection. But I won’t stop, it’s a post-war memorial to shoes. They are a real art to me,” he says.
The world’s best-known shoe collector was the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos.
She was said to have more than 3,000 pairs of shoes from Givenchy, Christian Dior and other exclusive designers – but Belchenko is not as picky with the brands he chooses. He often goes shoe hunting at the local flea market.
He has no hard and fast selection criteria. He simply buys whatever looks nice and unusual.
By day, he sells newspapers on the metro to raise money for more shoes and to advertise his collection.
Judges from the Guinness Book of Records have advised him he can break no records and that he should give the shoes away to the poor.
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