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Dr. Martens: the trend-setting boots since 1960.
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During the London riots from 1960s to 1980s, everyone wore Dr. Martens: left-wing militants the 1461 model, policemen the1460 and Skinheads the 1914 or 1940.

From statements of 70s and 80s British subcultures to celebrities of today, Docs are always on the crest of the wave.

When Pete Townshend of The Who first wore a pair of black 14-hole Dr. Martens model 1420s for the first time in 1964, the iconic boot designed for factory workers was immediately adopted by the Mod community, which elected it as an inescapable status symbol of the subculture.

Later, they would become the most important component of Skinheads‘ attire, to which they would pay almost obsessive attention, always keeping them polished and well cared for, choosing the highest version of the series and often reinforcing the toe with a steel insert.  For hard mods, first, and skinheads, later, the use of Dr. Martens represents a vindication of their proletarian affiliation.

As skinheads begin to take an increasingly dextrophilic stance, the U.K. left adopts the three-hole version: the model will be identified with labor struggle and progressive culture, thanks to MP Tony Benn, who will wear them in public.

We can say that the fortune of the world’s most famous minimal boot came about because of the celebrities who wore them, but not only. Based on the pattern and the holes, the political alignments of those who sported them were also evident-a power that few objects or garments were privileged to have.

During the London riots from 1960s to 1980s, everyone wore Dr. Martens: left-wing militants the 1461 model, policemen the1460 and Skinheads the 1914 or 1940.

After the brief interlude of Punk, the most iconic boot ever landed on the feet of Ska, New Wave, psychobilly, goth, grunge subcultures all the way to 1990s Brit-pop, which would see colors such as blue and red in the ranks of teenagers around the world.

With the almost definitive decline of the subcultures and underground culture of the mid-1990s into the early 2000s, Dr. Martens will experience the first waning phase of their history, only to make a comeback in 2015, but this time they will no longer identify with a specific niche community.

In 2019, the brand launches a new global campaign for the Fall/Winter season entitled Tough as You, a communication focused on promoting continuous self-improvement and the power of diversity.

In recent years, the brand has become synonymous with essential, no-frills boots, and because of that, loved and worn by everyone, regardless of style: from Tyler, the Creator, to Irina Shayk, to the college professor, restaurant waiter, or neighborhood gas station attendant.

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