Doc Martens (officially known as Dr. Martens) are another shoe brand that has followed the popular route from podiatric utility to explosive fasionability. They are popular through the entire range of style circles, from goths to mods, from skinheads to punks. Maybe it's their look, maybe it's their comfort level, maybe it's the fact that the name is cool and everyone else is wearing them. Whatever reason, the popularity of Doc Martens is undeniable.

The History of Doc Martens

There was, of course, an actual Doctor Martens, although he was neither a punk, a skater, nor a skinhead. He was in fact a skier--a German skier from the town of Seeshaupt, near Munich (and his actual last name was spelled "Maertens"). In 1945, Dr. Maertens hurt his foot while skiing in the Alps. His foot hurt badly and he was unable to walk, so he decided to make himself some new shoes.

Dr. Maertens knew that standard leather-soled shoes weren't going to help him. They were flat and hard, and they exacerbated his foot pain. So he devised a new air-filled sole made from old rubber tires. By trapping pockets of air between two layers of rubber, Maertens was able to create a sole, and therefore a shoe, that he could finally walk on while his foot healed. The first Doc Martens were born.

By the late 1950s, Dr. Maertens had teamed up with another German doctor--Dr. Herbert Funck--to sell their shoes commercially. The company was originally called Dr. Maertens. Apparently Dr. Funck didn't get a say; which is too bad since "Doc Funcks" would make a great name for a shoe brand.