DR. MARTENS

Few accessories withstand the test of time better than Dr Martens. Since their lunch in 1960, these thick-soled combat boots remain as popular as ever, and indeed are gaining ground. Born of the fusion between the Griggs family business and the novel ideas of doctors Klaus Maertens and Herbert Funk, the label was established in the English Midlands in 1901. The real story, however, began in 1945, when aforementioned Klaus Maertens, a soldier at the time, was recovering from a foot fracture. To help himself heal more quickly, he decided to create a shoe with an air-cushioned sole — which also happened to be far more comfortable than most footwear on offer at the time. With an inkling that he was onto something, he introduced the idea to his friend Herbert Funk, an academic who helped him launch the production of a prototype in 1947. When the duo opted to go international with their boots in 1959, they were already a hit in Germany. In England, Bill Griggs stumbled upon an ad boasting of the shoes' unparalleled comfort. After purchasing the license, on April 1st 1960, he would launch the first pair of Dr Martens. Enhanced with a small heel and yellow stitching on the sole, the 1460 boots with eight eyelets were born. An instant hit with the working class, they cost 2 British pounds a pair and sold like hotcakes. In the 1970s they were adopted by the era's skinheads before going mainstream in the 1980s. Even women and the distant markets of the United States were wild about them. But in the early 2000s, the success began to stagnate. The boots were losing their panache and the label was forced to close nearly all their factories to avoid filing for bankruptcy. Saved in 2007 by designers who were committed to restoring Docs to their former glory, today they're once again center stage as one of the fashion world's universal must-haves.