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Agyness Deyn likes hers in cherry red. Model of the moment Alice Dellal prefers hers with biker jacket and ripped fishnets. Daisy Lowe has them in bright pink.
The Dr Marten boot is back. At Paris Fashion Week, Jean-Paul Gaultier sent models out in the label's 20-eyelet chunky boots. According to chief executive David Suddens: "Sales are up five per cent in Europe and we are expecting an even stronger year this year despite the recession."
The brand - which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year - has gone from workwear staple to emblem of youth rebellion. More than 100 million pairs have been sold since it launched here on 1 April 1960 (the best-seller, the 1460 eight-eyelet boot, is named after the date). And now they're high fashion again - tying in with the new flirtation with all things punk.
You can wear them with the most feminine dresses, for that essential hint of butch. And their air-conditioned sole, plus grooved side walls and chunky heel loop, gives you ballast. A dancer friend tells me they're great for having sex standing up on trains (you'll have to take her word for it).
Its history is fascinating: Klaus Maertens was a doctor in the German army during the Second World War. After he injured his ankle skiing, he began adapting his standard-issue army boots with an air-cushioned sole.
Soon he was manufacturing them using discarded rubber from Luftwaffe airfields. In 1960, British shoe manufacturer Griggs bought patent rights to manufacture them here (they anglicised the name, added the yellow stitching, and trademarked the soles as AirWair).
Popular among postmen and police officers, by the late 1960s, skinheads started wearing them and in the 1970s, they were adopted by punk bands.
They became a bit of a style cliché. By the end of the 1990s, the beautiful people had moved on to Birkenstocks. But then punk princess Agyness Deyn brought them out of the wilderness. Today she has a pair in every colour, happily wearing them with a little black dress to a Louis Vuitton party.
It's not surprising we've taken to the Doctor again. There is a strong return to "workwear". It's not all wining and dining now; people want to look as if they can be taken seriously.
You can customise your own boot or buy their hand-crafted "Vintage" line. There are high-heeled boots, tartan ones, boots in hot patent. We're even promised a fur-lined one for autumn.
And to counter the economic downturn they have just released the For Life boot for £110 which they will repair for ever in your lifetime. "We are actually putting more value into it, with higher quality leather and a thicker heel," says Suddens.
It may just be the only boot you ever need to buy.
Reader views (3)
I wore the shoes versions for years but they do make your feet smell. Used to buy them from a small shop near Brick Lane market or was it Solbros in Balham.
- Steve, London, 16/03/2009 23:48
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The sole is air cushioned not "air conditioned" if anything they lack ventilation
- Jack Spratt, Richmond, England, 16/03/2009 18:46
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I used to only wear Dr Marten's shoes in the past, but found that, one by one, the shops which used to sell the Dr Marten shoes were being denied stock from the company as they weren't 'up-market' enough and my supply simply dried up. They were pushing their own stores where the prices were inflated. I stopped wearing Dr Marten shoes from that time. I used to buy from 3 independent shoe shops but they were all told that Dr Marten would no longer supply them with shoes.
- Ian Davies, London, UK, 16/03/2009 12:18
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