Dr Martens shoes have remained popular for a number of decades and have become an important statement in footwear for a number of different cultures and movements. These different sub cultures saw Dr Martens Shoes as a way to identify who they were and to recognise those that were similar to them but how did this come to be?
A young German military doctor called Klaus Maertens created the initial design after he injured his ankle skiing. Dr Klaus Maertens had been skiing whilst on leave from service in WWII. He found that the boots and shoes he already owned made his feet hurt even more, so he decided to fix this problem by creating a more comfortable shoe of his own.
He came up with a boot that had a sole filled with air that provided comfort as well as cushioning some of the impact from walking and running. The boot also gave him support for the ankle, which reduced the amount of body weight applied to the ankle.
Dr Maertens didn’t have much luck selling his footwear in Germany until an old friend from University called Dr. Herbert Funck took an interest. Together they marketed and manufactured the shoes in Germany and became very successful with the shoes becoming a big hit among the female population. It wasn’t long until they started marketing the shoes internationally and British shoe manufacturers the Griggs Group bought the rights to the patent and the first British Dr Martins Shoes went on sale in 1960.
The British Dr Martens shoes were obviously given their name after their creator and as they entered the UK footwear market they were marketed as having bouncing soles, filled up with air and were given the AirWair tag they are now famous for.
Dr Martens boots made a big impression with Skinheads and the UK Ska music scene. Later on this spread to Punk, New Wave and Grunge music, which helped to boost the shoe brand at home and abroad.
Dr Martens held on to their popularity almost until the turn of the century when declining sales forced the company to move production to Thailand in order to reduce costs, although the vintage range is still manufactured in the United Kingdom. You can now purchase them anywhere with Dr Martens shoes in Trowbridge to a full range of sandals, boots and shoes in New York. The brand is now a very well known name in homes all around the globe.
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