Bangkok gets its 'bovver boots'

Dr Martens Airwair, the popular footwear brand from the United Kingdom, celebrated the official opening of its first stand-alone shop in Thailand on Wednesday with a party at Mega Bangna shopping complex.

 

Under the concept “first and forever”, the highlight was a fashion show of vintage-style leather footgear, printed with colourful flower motifs and classic-patterned leather oxford shoes from the Liberty and MIE series. 

 

Back in 1945, German doctor Klaus Martens designed a soft leather boot with air-cushion soles made of tyres after he injured his ankle while skiing in the Bavarian Alps and realised a standard army boot didn’t support his feet. 

 

In 1947, he teamed up with Dr Herbert Funck to develop his ideas and opened the first Dr Martens shop in the town of Seeshaupt. Their Cherry Red and Black 14-hole boots with flexible air-cushion soles made from discard rubber from Luftwaffe landing fields proved a big hit with German housewives. 

 

In 1959, British shoe manufacturer R. Griggs Group bought the patent rights, anglicised the name to Dr Martens Airwair and added yellow stitching on the uppers as a trademark. The first Dr. Martens boots came out on 1 April 1960 (known as style 1460 and still in production today), with an eight-eyelet Ox Blood Smooth leather design. They were snapped up by postmen, the police and factory workers and by the mid-1970s were being worn by skinheads, punks and scooter riders.

 

In Bangkok, entrepreneur Suda Songudomwattana, who comes from a tannery family, established the OTT Footwear seven years ago and became the sole distributor of Dr Martens in Thailand. They’re sold in many leading shopping malls, but the 57-square-metre space at Mega Bangna is the brand’s flagship store.

 

It stocks more than 100 designs for men and women in leather, suede and woven textile. The highlights include a limited edition of floral print X Liberty boots, made of quality printed leather from France and the MIE collection with traditional-style oxford shoes made at the Cobbs Lane factory. 

 

“My daughter and I love Dr Martens. They’re great quality and so easy to clean. The selling point is the good cut, the signature yellow stitching and the comfortable air-cushion soles,” says Suda. “With two fashion seasons a year, we’ll be introducing about 20 new designs to Bangkok.”

 

Trendy women will love the Sara and Danielle high-heeled shoes made from leopard-printed leather from Italy, the smart 1460 leather boots that come in purple, blue and yellow and colourful 1461 oxford shoes. The company plans to launch a collection of leather satchels for men and women soon. 

 

Dr.Martens Airwair’ products are also available at Siam Paragon, Zen and Central Department Store.

 

FLOATING ON AIR

Dr Martens Airwair is located on the first floor of Mega Bangna. It’s open daily from 10am to 10pm. Call (02) 105 1676 or visit Facebook.com/Dr.MartensAirwairThailand