Ever since Miley Cyrus appeared in her video for “Wrecking Ball” outside of the red AirWair 1460 boots from Dr Martens wore nothing at all, the boots are once again on the rise. But they never actually left.
1967, the world wears colorful clothes, in the USA Scott McKenziesings “Be sure to wear flowers in your hair”, and in England Keith Richards has to spend a year in jail for drug possession. On the island, you don’t feel much of this “summer of love”, this time that is supposed to change so much. And so this 22-year-old boy with curly brown hair is not even aware of what he is doing when he buys a pair of orange rubber boots in a household goods store. The boy is Pete Townshend, his band The Who, and the boots that start their campaign after their performance at the concert in Somewhere, England, come from Dr. Martens.
A way out of the military barracks
30 years earlier, a young German soldier breaks his foot while skiing. It doesn’t help, the military boots have to go. So the young Klaus Maertens gets to work and uses whatever he can get his hands on: abandoned Air Force material, for example, which he fishes out of the rubble of bombed-out Munich. His friend Herbert Funck helps him to seal the sole with the underside in such a way that air chambers are created between them, which provide additional support and cushioning for the foot. In the end, the friend becomes a business partner and the air cushion becomes a sales argument. By the mid-1950s, Maertens and Funck had refined their boot and sold it to everyone from letter carriers to housewives who were no longer satisfied with uncomfortable footwear. The latter in particular are tearing shoes off the shelves, causing sales to women over 40 to shoot up to 80 percent. This allowed Maertens and Funck to move their production from the military barracks to a real factory.
Dr. Martens – From worker’s shoe to cultural piece
So everything is running smoothly for Maertens and Funck in Munich. So round that they are even starting to place real advertisements. One of these sheets unexpectedly flutters onto the desk of Bill Griggs, who lives in England with his brothers and son R. Griggs & Co. Ltd – a family business with the whole of England working in its boots. A conversation, a handshake and an exclusive license later, the Griggs men get to work on the changes that will make Dr Martens unmistakable: an adapted heel, the typical yellow stitching and the strap printed with the new name. On 1. The “AirWair 1460” goes on sale in April 1960. The price: two pounds. The slogan: to make working men’s footwear comfortable. And the success? Resounding. Anyone who doesn’t work at a desk in England wears their Docs as a matter of course. At some point, English working-class children discover the boots for themselves, cut their hair short and gather in groups that are still diverse in terms of politics and beliefs. On his feet: the same boot that a short time later The Who frontman Pete Townshend pulls off the shelf of a chain store.
Loved by all
After The Who, the real workboat Dr. Martens also infiltrated bands such as the Sex Pistols, The Slits and The Clash. From rock’n’roll, the shoe finds its way into the punk scene, from where it waddles its way to the mods, goths and grebos. In 1975, the Griggs family increases its production from 1,000 pairs per week to over 6,000. The rumor that only one pair of boots is allowed per customer per purchase further boosts sales. A marketing coup that works. When the couple Wayne and Geraldine Hemingway finally started selling second-hand clothing, including customized Doc boots, at London’s Camden Market, the brand was given a new boost. As if she needed it, since US bands touring in England bring the comfortable kicks across the Atlantic. Groups of all colors celebrate their bands at festivals in dirt-smeared Dr. Martens, 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.
Millennials and millennials
The millennium is upon us, and people have other things on their minds than shoes, with apocalyptic scenarios and food hamster purchases. Dr Martens celebrates its fortieth birthday without candles: the crisis requires the closure of all 16 factories in England and the outsourcing of production to Asia. The decision is tough, but saves the company from bankruptcy. Dr. Martens is slowly digging its way through the crisis and forcing its way back to the top position on the shoe shelf. Collaborations with Yohji Yamamoto, the English department store Liberty or the new muse Agyness Deyn are giving new impetus. In 2014, the British investment fund Permira pours 300 million pounds onto the table and takes over Dr. Martens. The company is really stepping on the gas: designer collaborations, a clothing line, e-commerce and new store openings worldwide are driving up sales and bringing the cult shoe to the feet of a generation that associates Dr. Martens more with a naked Miley Cyrus than The Who rocker Pete Townshend.
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