Helmut Fischer, Puma

He's the man, who owns 7,900 sneakers. Since 1978 Helmut Fischer works for Puma. He was born and raised in Herzogenaurach, the hometown of the legendary German sportswear brand. Within the Puma cosmos, everyone knows him – as the first advertiser and marketing manager, as a consultant and friend of the greatest sportsmen of all time. First and foremost, he's a hero – he compiled the brand's archive, still takes care of it and simply tells the best stories. This season, he'll tell them at SEEK's FASHIONTECH Studio on Wednesday.

"Puma is my life."

"The biggest experience was getting to know Boris Becker. In February 1985 we walked across the trade fair in Munich with his first autograph card and nobody knew him or was interested in him. Six years later, so after Wimbeldon, we had to close the Puma stand because everyone wanted to see and, most of all, catch hold of Boris. That was the start of a friendship that is still a close one today – and, incidentally, Puma's definitive breakthrough as a global brand."

Helmut Fischer with: Boris Becker, Diego Maradona

"I have some shoes signed by Jay Z – what more do you want from life?"

Helmut Fischer with: Berti Vogts, Thomas Tuchel, Héctor Bellerín, Usain Bolt

"My favourite pieces from the archive are Boris' rackets and shoes from his '85 Wimbledon victory, and the original shoes from Pele wore for the World Cup in 1970 in Mexico – I've already been offered 50,000 dollars per pair for these."

"For me, the most beautiful thing about Berlin is my team Borussia Dortmund playing in the cup finals. We celebrated big time – and cried big time."

"Since 1978 I have collected 7,900 shoes. Since nobody from Puma wanted them, I rented two garages at my own cost and took the whole lot home with me before they were chucked out. It was only when Björn Gulden came to Puma in 2013 that we started to build up the official archive."

Register Here for all PREMIUM GROUP shows from 14 – 16 January 2020