How Doc Martens Boots Became Iconic

Upon the arrival of my first pair of Dr Martens boots, I got inspired by the iconic item. They can be seen at movie premieres as well as at live concerts, Emma Watson wears them as well as Orlando Bloom: Doc Martens are among the most sought-after shoe brands in the world. Over time, they have sometimes been less trendy, sometimes more. But today, the cult brand has established itself as a fixed part of the fashion world and yet is far more than just a fashion phenomenon.

The history of the shoes with the distinctive look and the rubber sole is namely fascinating, the Docs have accompanied many generations and shaped subcultures such as those of the punks. But how did the working-class shoes become a fashion icon?

We never intended to be fashionable. Our boots have always been worn by people who used them as an expression of their own identity. In many cases, it was youth cultures that considered us relevant in their respective times — they were all about rebellion and non-conformism. That’s what has allowed us to maintain our freshness in the first place over the past six decades, and thus to be embraced by fashion circles worldwide without having to change our brand DNA to do so. — David Campbell, Chief Product and Marketing Officer Dr. Martens

How It All Started

It was Dr. Klaus Märtens, a German doctor, who had the idea of making a sturdy boot. After a skiing accident in 1945 in which he suffered a foot injury, Märtens, at that time in the Wehrmacht, had to put on the German military boots again, which were terribly uncomfortable. After the end of World War II, he invented new boots: together with his business partner Herbert Funck, he recycled rubber from the Luftwaffe, which by then, in 1947, had become obsolete. The rubber sole made the boots more comfortable than conventional work and safety shoes. The two Germans’ first shoes were made almost entirely of leftover army material.

Until the mid-50s, Märtens and Funck refine their boots and sell them to everyone from postmen to housewives who no longer want to settle for uncomfortable footwear. A circumstance that allows Märtens and Funck to move their production from the military barracks to a real factory.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the English entrepreneur Bill Griggs became aware of the German shoes of Mr Märtens. He bought the license for his country and started the production of Doc Martens (the German name was slightly changed). He nicknamed the typical sole “AirWair” and also invented the yellow sewing thread, which is still used today. The 1460 model, which was first sold on April 1, 1960, is still in the program today.

Shaping Generations

In the sixties, Dr Martens shoes were taken up by a subculture for the first time. In Great Britain, there was a trend called the Mods, a movement that, regardless of its origins and wealth, was particularly styled and fashionable and listened mainly to soul music. Within the Mods, another subculture emerged: the first Skinheads. The skinheads saw themselves as a countermovement to the hippie culture. They were working-class, they rebelled against the free-love and flower-power talk, they staged themselves traditionally masculine and showed the peace-loving hippies the middle finger. Being “working class”, they adored the roots of the Doc Martens.

“When I was a kid in the mid-’60s, I was what’s known as a moddie boy, a prototype skinhead. You all had your hair like a crew cut, cropped, with suits or Levis with red suspenders, sometimes Doc Martens. It was a thriving soul music, Motown and ska scene; we used to dance to Prince Buster and the Skatalites.” — Graham Parker

In that time, not only Skin Heads were rocking the rough shoes. In 1967, a man walked into a utility clothing store in the north of England. He purchased a blue boiler suit and a pair of orange rubber boots — Dr Martens. This (quite bold) decision was the start of something big. The man was Pete Townshend, frontman of The Who and the shoe was about to make his way on the world’s stage in the Summer Of Love. Not only the show that night but also the style was a “revolution”.

Rock’n Roll, Baby

After The Who, the workboot Dr Martens also infiltrates bands like the Sex Pistols, The Slits, or The Clash. From rock’n’roll, the shoe finds its way into the punk scene. In 1975, the Griggs family increases production from 1,000 pairs per week to over 6,000. The rumor that only one pair of boots is allowed per customer boosts the sales even more. It’s a marketing coup that works. In dirt-smeared Dr Martens, groups of all colors celebrate their bands at festivals, where the rough boots have found another home to this day. In the 90s, the Griggs family opens the first Dr Martens store in London’s Covent Garden and breaks its own production record in 1998 with 10.5 million pairs of shoes per year.

The New Millenium

Around the year 2000, however, the company was close to the end; sales figures had declined and the models were simply no longer “in”. From 2004 onwards, the company began to move the majority of production to China, and new models were also introduced and some daring designs were tried out.

Collaborations with Yohji Yamamoto, the English retailer Liberty, and the Agyness Deyn have given the brand new momentum. In 2014, the English investment fund Permira pours 300 million pounds on the table and takes over Dr Martens for it. The company kicked off with designer collaborations, a clothing line, e-commerce, and the opening of its own stores around the world, all of which boosted sales and put the cult footwear on the feet of a generation that associated Dr Martens more with a naked Miley Cyrus than with The Who rocker Pete Townshend.

A Timeless Icon for the Generations Ahead

The company is now cleverly exploiting its cultural heritage, the association of Dr Martens with punk bands, for marketing purposes. There’s a Sex Pistols model, and there’s a Joy Division New Order line. But creative director Damien Wilson is appealing to another young demographic: the Fridays-for-Future youth. “Dr Martens are durable” — and therefore sustainable. The timeless design actually makes the boots independent of trends — and still suitable to be adapted by any kind of style and subcultures. So that everyone remembers their first Dr Martens.

Still today, it’s more than a shoe. It’s an icon of many generations, representing rebellion, punk, and rock’n roll.