Dr. Martens Rocks Out for 50th Anniversary

Posted on | April 9, 2010 | No Comments

My good friend Virginia from Temperley London always tries to beat it in my head that music and fashion are a perfect marriage. She ecstatically emailed me a few weeks ago telling me about Dr. Martens new campaign and I finally had a chance to check it out.

I remember when Docs were the shoe to have back in my middle school ska days…I think I still have them in my parent’s house. Anyways, it’s no surprise that they’re trying to revitalize their brand for the 50th anniversary. And what better way to do so than by revolving the campaign around music.

The concept is simple: 10 artists record 10 cover songs spanning the past 5 decades and turn them into 10 music videos created by 10 unique directors. So far, they’ve launched videos for Noisettes, The Duke Spirit, and Dam-Funk with 7 more to come. I’m EXTREMELY excited to see what The Cinematic Orchestra does with Jeff Buckley’s Lilac Wine.

Aesthetically, I think they nailed the spirit of the Dr. Martens brand while embracing the new, which most brands can’t really pull off. It reminds me of what Converse has been doing for the past 10 years meets Green Label Sound. As a result, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Adriano Goldschmied (note: remember their Entourage campaign) or Ben Sherman created a special edition Dr. Martens shoe by the end of the year. On the other hand, it’d be pretty interesting if they put the design in the hands of the musicians, but that could be a huge gamble. All I know is, part of me wants to head back to Philly, brush the dust off my Docs, and buy tickets to see The Specials at Terminal 5 for old times sake.