From the Factory to Youth Culture: A Brief History of Doc Martens

 

              Sharpen your pencils and break out the notepad, it’s time for a history lesson. Let’s jump back to the 1960’s to a little island that is cold and wet, also known as England. The Griggs family who hailed in England’s boot making capital, Northampton, was a respected, wealthy and established family and company. The Griggs have been making boots since 1901 and what made this family special is their free thinking mind and sense of individuality.

 

        So one day in the 1950’s, after being frustrated with the rigid styles from the magazine Shoe and Leather News, Bill Griggs came across an advert from a German duo looking for an overseas partner to help them produce their revolutionary air-cushioned sole. This German duo was Dr.Maertens and Dr.Funck, maverick inventors and free thinkers. This air-cushioned sole was the response to a foot injury during a ski trip accident. The German duo was looking for partners who shared the same sense of individuality and forward thinking. Bill Griggs simply could not pass up an offer like this, so he called the German duo and on April 1^st, 1960 the legend and icon for individuality was born.

       During this time, the tribe of young people called the Skin Heads began to wear Doc Martens. Skin Heads were ska- music loving and had homage towards the British working class. They would mimic the style of the working man and were detail orientated. Doc Martens were originally sold as reliable working factory man shoes, so to complete the Skins Heads aesthetic DM’s became a necessity.

             Some years later after the Skin Head culture, Pete Townshend from the band The Who, deliberately wore Doc Martens on stage to show the audience he is unashamed of being part of the working class. Pete Townshend most certainly looked different in the music era of psychedelia and flower power. The Who was the ring leader of youth culture, and the ever-growing circus of misfits and free thinkers formed. After The Who’s appearance in Doc Martens, youth flocked and bought them and more subcultures formed. There were punks, psychobilly, grunge, Goth, hardcore, Brit pop, emo, and two tones, and what all of these subcultures shared was the obsession with freedom, creativity, and rejection of societal norms. Doc Martens became a symbol and canvas for the youth to paint and decorate their personality on it. Each pair was different, people would scuff them, decorate them, lace the shoes up differently and styled it to whatever made them happy.

  

 

 

          So as you’re lacing up your Doc Martens to go to class or on a coffee run, you can reflect on the idea of what made these shoes special. You are wearing 55 years of individuality, free thinking and creativity. Maybe you yourself are like Bill Griggs and Dr.Maertens: a maverick, an innovator, and a free thinker.