Doc Martens will have been kitting out grannies and models for 36 years this week. Here are some vital statistics
Age: 36 on April 1.
Appearance: In your face.
Meaning? As the footwear of preference for Britain’s skinhead community, a good kicking as likely as not involved a pair of Doc Martens.
But surely that was then … Now they’re merely ubiquitous. From catwalk to carpark. Even the Pope’s wearing them.
What, the Pope? How many do you know? He was given some two years ago and has ordered 100 more pairs.
Well, I suppose he does spend a lot of time on his feet on that balcony. They’re not all for him, although the white size 9s have a papal air about them. The rest are for his staff.
The Vatican Guard? Why not? Skirts and tunics by Michelangelo, footwear by Dr Martens.
So tell me, how did a humble medical man come to be the nametag on a million feet? It all started back in the 1940s on an Alpine slope. Dr Klaus Maertens, a German, was convalescing from a skiing accident. Walking was painful so, with the help of an engineer friend called Herbert Funck, he made a pair of shoes out of old tyres and some other bits and pieces.
Are you sure about this? Absolutely. His orthopaedic shoes were a big hit with elderly German ladies. He licensed them to a British company who changed the name from Maertens to Martens. The first ones were made in Britain in 1960 and worn by grannies, policemen and postmen.
And skinheads? That came later. First of all were the Mods, who adopted these comfy, comforting shoes as a symbol of alienation and rebellion.
Stroll on! Then came the skinheads, pounding all before them with steel toecap cherry reds with yellow stitching and 16 holes.
16 holes? The eyelets. The higher the number, the harder you were.
This is like a social history of post-war Britain! Precisely. Both rightwing skins and leftwing radicals wore them.
The hardest of the hard? It’s a fight between Elton John, who wore a giant pair in Tommy, and those unpleasant droogs in A Clockwork Orange.
The softest of the soft? The Dalai Llama.
The catwalk connection? Combine a pair of work boots with something svelte and you are making a statement.
Unique selling point? The Air Wair sole, ”oil, fat, acid, petrol and alkali resistant”.
Not to be confused with: Dr Skol.
Most likely to be worn by: Policemen, postmen, models, cricket umpires.
Least likely to be worn by: Rightwing thugs.