About: Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens is an British shoe maker and clothing brand. Its footwear has an iconic air-cushioned sole, and yellow stitching.

The history of the Dr. Martens shoe starts in Germany in 1945. Klaus Martens was a doctor in the German army and he injured his ankle while skiing on holiday. His usual army boots were too uncomfortable, so he modified them while his ankle got better.

At the end of the war, Martens found some good quality leather and decided to make some more pairs of his comfortable boots that now also had an air-cushioned sole.

In 1947, Martens met another doctor called Herbert Funck, who loved his design, and they decided to go into business together.

By 1952 their boots were selling so well that they needed to open a bigger factory. By 1959, they decided to try and sell their boots internationally.

British shoe manufacturer R.Griggs Ltd. loved the boots and bought the rights to make and sell the boots in the UK. R. Griggs re-shaped the boots a bit, added the yellow stitching, and trademarked the air-cushioned soles as ‘AirWair’.

R. Griggs started selling the newly branded Dr. Martens boots in the UK on 1 April 1960. The boots quickly became popular with postmen, factory workers, and police officers.

Dr. Martens also became the footwear of choice for many youth groups throughout the next 30 years. First they became popular with the Mods in the early 60s.

In the mid 60s, hippies wore Dr. Martens in order to rebel against formal society. Popular musicians of this era, such as The Who could sometimes be seen wearing Dr. Martens shoes.

By the 1970s the army style boots had become fashion items amongst skinheads and punks, who wore clothes that made them look tough and scary in order to show anger towards government and society. The skinheads and punks thought that society and government didn’t care about their future. The boots, which were now available in many different colors and patterns, also suited the punks colourful hair and clothing. Again, musicians such as The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Ramones would regularly wear Dr. Martens boots during these times.

The Dr. Martens boot was also part of Grunge fashion in the early 90s. Grunge style was associated with lazy teenagers who didn’t care. They wore second-hand (used) clothes and ripped jeans. By this time, there were many used Dr. Martens shoes and boots available in second-hand clothing stores.

Nowadays many designs of Dr. Martens footwear are available. People tend to buy them as retro fashion, so they can be cool like the Mods, hippies, punks, skinheads, and grunge kids who wore them in the past.

 

Video

Here is a really interesting video about the history of Dr Martens footwear.