Spring/Summer 2020
Dr Martens
Wollaston
United Kingdom
Address
Cobbs Lane
Wollaston, Northants
NN29 7SW
England
Wollaston, Northants
NN29 7SW
England
FMD-ID
BR437
Phone
+44 01933 663281
Website
About
founded by
Klaus Martens
belongs to
R. Griggs Group Ltd.
about
Dr. Martens is a footwear, clothing and accessories brand, and the footwear products are most 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 M�rtens of Germany. The boots and shoes have been especially popular among skinheads, punks, grungers and members of a few other youth subcultures.
Klaus M�rtens 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, M�rtens took leather from a cobbler's shop. With that leather he made himself a pair of boots with air-cushioned soles.
M�rtens 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, with 80% of sales in the first decade going to women over the age of 40.
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Who Wears It
The Bouncing Souls, punks,
