Dr Martens - AirWair

The year of 1945, a 25-year-old soldier named Dr. Klaus Maertens and his broken foot is where the history of Dr Martens began. To aid his recovery, Maertens crafted a pair of boots with an air-cushioned sole; the design of which he turned into a prototype that he subsequently showed his old university friend and mechanical engineer, Dr. Herbert Funck. A partnership formed and the two started to produce what would later be known as Dr Martens. 

When Dr Martens reached the UK in the 1960s, they were first being sold as an everyday workers’ boot. But it wasn’t long before the free spirit and prominent music scene of this decade floated these boots onto a different path. Pete Townshend of The Who was the first high profile individual to show how Dr Martens could symbolise working class pride and a rebellious attitude.

By the end of the 1970s, Dr Martens had become a representation of what it meant to be authentic in a world full of conformity. At a time of social expression and development, these boots were championed by the diverse and the alternative.

The rebels and non-conformists, as well as the workers, have all carried Dr Martens through six decades, and, today, Dr Martens remain a distinguished footwear and clothing brand. Dr Martens are a statement of self-individuality that still somehow manages to blend the conventional and the mavericks; and continues to connect generation after generation.