Doc Martens rebirth – Part 2
Posted on 04. Dec, 2007 by Jonathan Cherry in Branding
90′s grunge fashion icon brand Doc Martens are still determined to come back into vogue.
After their last shockvertising attempt, which featured Kurt Cobain print ads – loads of viral coverage and a Courtney Love lawsuit…and bombed terribly – they’ve hired a new ad agency and are trying a different angle of approach.
The campaign, by Exposure Communications of London, features young
models wearing Docs with grunge- and punk-inflected outfits and
expressions of bored disaffection; the spots are appearing in the
United States, Britain, France and Germany in publications like Teen
Vogue, Spin and British GQ.
The shoes have also stomped into
numerous magazine editorial features and fashion spreads, appearing
recently in GQ, Vogue, Seventeen, Lucky and Us Weekly (which declared,
“They’re baack!”)
Well in true ‘design your own’ fashion – the agency has also created a website which allows you to design the next Doc boot. Apparently more than 11 000 designs have already been submitted.
But can fashion trends really be dictated to by corporations with big ad budgets?
The whole reason Docs became fashionable in the first place was because they represented the very essence of anti-commercialism that grunge stood for. Ironic then that their possible resurrection could be in the hands of profiteering capitalist corporation.
If the brand makes a comeback, we’ll know for sure.
Design your own: DMbootdesign.com
More: Anti-fashion icon returns – NYTimes
Previously: Dr Martens says sorry to Courtney Love – Cherryflava
