Dr. Martens

The boot whose silhouette is on the M Street storefront at 3108 was designed in 1960 by R. Griggs Group in Northamptonshire, England, on a patented air-cushioned sole technology that a German doctor named Klaus Maertens had developed after injuring his foot skiing in Bavaria in 1945. Maertens designed a sole with air pockets to cushion his injured foot, sold the design commercially in Germany through the 1950s, and eventually licensed it to Griggs, who formalized the boot’s design with the distinctive yellow welt stitching, smooth leather upper, and the eight-eyelet version that became the 1460 designation. The first boots sold in the United Kingdom on April 1, 1960, which is why the 1460 carries that date on the heel loop.

What happened in the subsequent six decades is the history of a functional work boot being adopted by successive subcultures as a marker of identity in ways that the manufacturer did not engineer and could not entirely control. British workers wore the boots because the air cushion sole was genuinely comfortable over a long shift. Skinhead youth adopted them in the late 1960s because they were cheap, tough, and available, which was coincidentally what skinhead fashion required. Punk adopted them in the 1970s as part of a working-class aesthetic that punk was self-consciously constructing. The 1980s and 1990s saw the boots move through goth, alternative, and grunge as each subculture found in the silhouette something that expressed what it needed to express. Madonna, Courtney Love, and Pete Townshend all wore the boots at moments when each was photographed in ways that circulated through culture.

The Georgetown store at 3108 M Street carries the current Dr. Martens collection, which spans from the original 1460 in the classic smooth leather to platform-soled interpretations, Chelsea boot formats, sandals, and the vegan leather alternatives that the brand now produces alongside the original Nappa leather. The production quality has shifted over the years, with the brand moving most manufacturing to Asia and maintaining a Made in England line for the heritage-focused buyer who wants the Northamptonshire production that the brand’s history references.

For Georgetown’s university population, the boots have a particular resonance as student clothing that carries subcultural history while functioning practically. The combination of durability, distinctive visual identity, and the platform sole height that adds lift without requiring a heel makes the 1460 a consistent choice for the Georgetown University students who are within walking distance of the M Street store.

Hours run from 11am daily on weekdays, with Friday and Saturday extending to 8pm and Sunday opening at noon. Online ordering at drmartens.com carries the full range including the Made in England editions. The Georgetown store carries a selection from the current season’s catalog; the website is the resource for the full product range.