Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens is a footwear, clothing and accessories brand, and the footwear products are often known as Doc Martens, Docs or DMs. The footwear is distinct because of its air-cushioned sole (dubbed Bouncing Soles), developed by Dr. Klaus Maertens of Germany. The boots and shoes have been especially popular among skinheads, punks and members of a few other youth subcultures.

History

Pair of classic black leather Dr. Martens boots, with distinctive yellow stitching around sole.

Klaus Maertens was a doctor in the German army during World War II. While on leave in 1945, he injured his ankle while skiing in the Bavarian Alps. He found that his standard-issue army boots were too uncomfortable on his injured foot. While recuperating, he designed improvements to the boots, with soft leather, and air-padded soles. When the war ended and some Germans looted valuables from their own cities, Maertens took leather from a cobbler's shop. With that leather he made himself a pair of boots with air-cushioned soles.

Maertens didn't have much luck selling his shoes until he met up with an old university friend, Dr. Herbert Funck, in Munich in 1947. Funck was intrigued by the new shoe design, and the two went into business that year in Seeshaupt, Germany, using discarded rubber from Luftwaffe airfields. The comfortable and durable soles were a big hit with housewives; 80 percent of sales in the first decade were to women over the age of 40.

Sales had grown so much by 1952 that they opened a factory in Munich. In 1959, the company had grown large enough that Maertens and Funck looked at marketing the footwear internationally. Almost immediately, British shoe manufacturer R. Griggs Group Ltd. bought patent rights to manufacture the shoes in the United Kingdom. Griggs anglicised the name, slightly re-shaped the heel to make them fit better, added the trademark yellow stitching, and trademarked the soles as AirWair.

Skinhead style: DM boots with Levi's jeans

The first Dr. Martens boots in the United Kingdom came out on April 1, 1960; with an eight-eyelet, cherry-red, Nappa leather design. They were popular among workers such as postmen, police officers and factory workers. By the late 1960s, skinheads started wearing Dr. Martens boots. By the late 1970s, Dr. Martens boots were popular among some British punk rock and New Wave musicians, and soon many punk fans were wearing them. The boots and shoes then became popular among other youth subcultures.

Dr. Martens sponsored West Ham United from 1998 to 2003. When a new main stand was built at Upton Park in 2001, the stand was named the 'Dr. Martens Stand' in recognition of the sponsorship link. In the 2000s, Dr. Martens became sold exclusively under the AirWair name, and come in dozens of different styles, including conventional black shoes, sandals and steel-toed boots.

On April 1, 2003, under pressure from declining sales, the Dr. Martens company ceased all production in the United Kingdom resulting in the loss of a 1000 British jobs BBC News article. Since then, Dr. Martens production moved to China and Thailand. With this change also came the end of the company's vegetarian-friendly non-leather products, which were produced since January, 2000. Since the move away from it's original British manufacturing base, brands including Solovair, have been sought after by those favouring a traditionally made boot.

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  Distinct yellow stitching on Dr. Martens shoe.
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  Inside of pre-2003 Dr. Martens made in the United Kingdom.
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  Inside of post-2003 Dr. Martens made in Thailand.
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  Sole of pre-2003 Dr. Martens made in the United Kingdom
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  Sole of post-2003 Dr. Martens made in Thailand.

External links

• Official Dr. Martens site
• Official Dr. Martens U.S.Retailer
• Dr. Martens FREEDM2 networking site for artists, musicians, film makers...
• DM Boot Design, a Dr. Martens boot design contest