If you haven’t heard of Dr Martens before now you clearly must have been living under a rock, for they are probably the most iconic footwear brand out there. A company which thrives on individuality and encourages anything outside of the norm, they truly made their mark with the last great subculture; Punk. This either induces a flash back to the 80s where punk fashion ruled, or if you weren’t around back then you just automatically think about ‘This is England’….This is our second season with the notorious boot brand so we thought it was time to take a closer look at the icon.
Subcultures didn’t exist until the late 50s when the first-generation of rock n roll shattered the clone-like teens that existed then, and with this new music to fuel them they rebelled against conformism to become the first generation of Teenagers. This spiralled throughout the following four decades, with new tribes and subcultures popping up and making some noise about something or other. Even the Dr Martens founding family, the Griggs of Northampton, ignored society and went in search of something new that would make their shoes unique – hence the brand’s philosophy… Enter Dr Maertens and Dr Funck. This Munich-based duo were free-thinkers and inventors who were on the lookout for partners for their revolutionary new air-sole. The feature which Dr Martens are now recognised for started it’s life as a solution to a ski injury but led to a worldwide phenomenon. Since the first boot came off the factory floor in 1960, Dr Martens became the uniform for those who just wanted to be different, which is why it’s been so popular within the creative industries – we love to be different! At the beginning they were simply bought by those who required a sturdy and reliable pair of boots for work, but when the skinheads rose up their desire to mimick the dress code of the British working man, brought Dr Martens out from the work halls and onto the feet of the youth culture. It helped that Pete Townsend was a huge advocate for them during the early years, launching them into the sight of every teenager out there (apparently he took his DMs and a bottle of Cognac to bed every night…). From skinheads to goths, Britpop to grunge, the common factor is Dr Martens. It’s a huge part of history.
‘Tribes’ and ‘subcultures’ died after the 90s, which means that nowadays we must be content with dipping back into those decades for inspiration and guidance. It’s all about rival now. This season Dr Martens have poised one question to all it’s wearers; “What do you stand for?” It’s may be an easy question, but it’s one which shows the limitless individuals who call themselves DM wearers. 13 ‘real people’ who vary from a 4 year boy from Wales to a 50 year old artist, feature in this season’s campaign, standing for anything from ‘the next generation of scooter boys’ to simply ‘the classics’.
We try to be different by stocking the more unique styles which offer a new outlook on this brand other than the classic boots – the quality and basics still remain! The air-cushioned soles are in each pair, smooth leather is the only choice and the chunky rubber sole it’s known for are still heat-sealed and sewn together. The style is still casual – especially with the boots – but the brogues have a smarter edge even with the chunky worker soles, and are going to be fantastic for mid-winter! Dr Martens are the perfect piece of footwear for this time of year, you know they’re reliable and are going to tackle the weather with ease and style. It’s an easy one.
