Since the first release of Doctor Martens in the UK on 1st April 1960 they have remained part of our pop culture, although music scenes change doc martens have remained unchanged especially the classic collection. Although popular, many people still believe the spelling to be Dr Martins or Doc Martins which of course is incorrect due to their German roots. The classic 1460 range was and still remains their most popular.
In the late 60′s ‘skinheads’ created the first scene that would see Doc Martens worn as part of a popular music scene, up to this point they were most popular with factory workers, office workers & postmen due to their long lasting and comfortable design. The skinhead movement was followed almost immediately by the punk rockers and have been popular with many music sub-cultures ever since. Many of the Dr Martens designs have been directly influenced and indeed named after some of the scenes that adopted them as part of their uniform, such as the Dr Martens Mod Classic 1460 range.
Doc Martens are not just a UK obsession, many subcultures in the US also adopted them. The Grunge scene which included Nirvana was probably the most publicised example of Americans taking to Dr Martens.
Unfortunately Dr Martens were forced to abandon the UK in 2003 due to rising overheads , moving their production abroad, however in 2007 they reopened a factory in Wollaston in England to produce their vintage line that are made to the exact original specifications.
Dr Martens have come a long way since their original design during world war 2 and have introduced hundreds of new lines, including shoes, sandals and ladies boots. Dr Martens will almost certainly bring back many memories for all those that have at one time or another owned a pair of these classic boots.
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