Body and sole

When the first DM boot rolled off the production line on April 1 1960, no one could have predicted the imprint it would leave on fashion. Initially launched as a super-comfortable workwear boot for posties, the police and factory workers, the Dr Martens Eight Hole Cherry Red (christened the 1460 after its birthday 1.4.60) was hijacked by rock stars and their fans alike and in the process became a global tyle icon.

Think of an influential figure from music over the past 30 or so years and chances are their feet were clad in Doctor Martens. DMs were de rigeur for successive generations of pop stars from the Who's Pete Townshend to the Clash's Joe Strummer to Blur's Damon Albarn.

The music dial might have changed over the years, moving through rock, punk, Two Tone, indie, grunge and Britpop, but DMs remained a constant.

Well, almost.

There were some sales drops when the peculiarities of certain fashion fads ruled against Docs, such as the glitter, platforms and flares of Glam Rock in the Seventies or the frills, pixie boots and eye liner of the New Romantics of the early Eighties.

By the mid-Eighties, however, Dr Martens shoes and boots were the essential item of most people's wardrobes. They were so ubiquitous that many people believed they'd never wear another type of shoe again.

After all these were the boots you wore in rather than wore out.

Even girls were donning them, following in the footsteps of their DM-devoted music heroes such as Morrissey from The Smiths and Paul King from King.

King breathed new life into the boot, wearing brightly-coloured versions which were to become his trademark and were copied by fans. Teen music magazine Smash Hits even ran an article: How To Paint Your DMs Like King.

But the bubble burst by the end of the Eighties, when trainers kicked the popularity of Docs into touch. The Madchester scene, led by groups such as Happy Mondays and Stone Roses, resulted in a fashion makeover with fans wearing flared denims, oversized T-shirts and designer trainers.

Sales of DMs plummeted, but began to pick up again in the Nineties with the arrival of Grunge and later Britpop - showing yet again how closely the fortunes of DMs were linked to the whimsical fads of the music scene.

Two other factors helped boost the sales of Dr Martens in the Nineties: the launch of new ranges and the expansion into overseas markets.

At the end of the Eighties, R Griggs - the Northamptonshire-based family firm which makes DMs - employed 1,430 staff and exported about 5,000 Docs a week. About 90 per cent of production was of the original 1460 boot.

Today, the company is positively flourishing, with 3,000 staff churning out 200,000-plus Dr Martens products a week, with eight in ten heading overseas.

Company spokesman Graham Ward says there are more than 1,000 different styles to chose from now.

"People still think of Dr Martens as a big black or cherry red boot with yellow stitching. But we have a massive range now, from hiking books, to wacky catwalk shoes to smart menswear shoes which are worn by surgeons and bank managers, they don't have the yellow stitching. I was 61 this week and I still wear them."

At trendy shoe store Raw in York's Feasegate the classic Dr Martens range sits next to more modern collections.

A big seller in recent years has been the Open AirWair sandal range. With styles suitable for men and women, the sandals come in leather, suede or nubuck and are available in a range of colours, including sand, black and brown and blue with prices around the £50 mark.

The sandals are selling so well that this year Raw has increased its order by 200 per cent.

The classic 1460, in original cherry red, black or funky purple is still popular, particularly with students and tourists, says Raw's John Barlow.

Competitive prices, hard-wearing soles and quality leather are the key qualities of the brand, says John.

"They also have a charming indifference. Anyone can wear them: from John Peel to Zoe Ball. There are no gender boundaries."

With more sandals coming out and a new trainer range to be launched later this year, John believes the brand has a healthy future ahead. "As long as they keep adapting to the retail environment, the future is rosy," he says.

So as the king of boots reaches 40, it looks like there will be many more happy birthdays ahead.

Did you know?

The first boots appeared in 1000AD when Roman soldiers replaced sandals with enclosed shoes to cope with the harsher climates of northern Europe.

The enormous DMs made for Ken Russell's rock opera movie Tommy were made of fibreglass and stood at 54 inches tall and were sold at auction in 1988 for £12,100. They are now in Northampton's Shoe Museum.

The average person walks five times around the world in their lifetime.

Docs is recognised as a word in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Doc Martens have their own tartan: MacMarten Tartan.

Dr Martens books to win

The Evening Press and Raw have 20 copies of a fascinating full-colour hardback book on the history of Dr Martens.

It tells the story of DMs and is packed with colour pictures of the rich, famous and sheer outlandish wearing Docs through the years.

With a foreword from John Peel, the book is as much a history of British youth culture as it is a tale about the birth of the king of boots.

For a chance to win a copy, answer this question: How many holes does the original 1460 Dr Martens boot have?

Send your entry on a postcard marked DM competition with your name, address and daytime telephone number to Maxine Gordon, Features, Evening Press, PO Box 35, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN. Deadline: Wednesday, April 12, 2000. Usual Evening Press rules apply.