Dr. Martens

In 1945 Klaus Märtens was recuperating from a broken ankle received in a skiing accident and came up with the idea for the Dr. Martens AirWair sole when he found his standard-issue army boots too uncomfortable to wear. With help from an old university friend, Dr. Märtens developed his concept and in 1947 the pair set up in business together selling Dr. Martens shoes to the German market. In 1959 Northampton based shoe manufacturer Bill Griggs bought a patent to produce Doc Martens shoes in the United Kingdom, with the first UK made pairs of Dr. Martens offered for sale in 1960. Dr. Martens AirWair shoes are a practical, hardwearing & good quality work footwear option that somehow crossed over and have been embraced by generations of counterculture groups.