Dr. Martens and Central Saint Martins Award Four Designers Bursaries Based on 1460 Boot Collaborations

Dr. Martens has again collaborated with Central Saint Martins students on a series of designs.

For the second time, the British bootmaker has worked with the famed fashion school on a scheme to support designers. After having nine students from the institution’s MA fashion course design their takes on the classic 1460 boot, a panel of judges chose four winners, who were all awarded a bursary and allowed to create prototypes of their designs. Other collaborators like Rick Owens have also done their takes on the 1460 over the years.

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“The prize is a big boost for my final collection,” Yanya Cheng, one of the winners, told FN. “It gives me the funds to explore a variety of materials and be more creative. Moreover, it’s a great support as I kick off the next steps in developing my design approach after graduation.”

All of the winners — Cheng, Traiceline Pratt, Valeria Pulici and Finlay Vincent — said they used the scholarship to pour back into their creative process.

The winners were chosen by a panel that included Dr. Martens’ global creative director, Darren McKoy, Central Saint Martins’ MA Fashion course leader, Fabio Piras, Fashion East founder Lulu Kennedy MBE, and Supreme’s VP Erin Magee.

Cheng created a complex pattern cutting, folding, and layering approach to design that she describes as boldly futurist. As such, her reimagining of the 1460 boot involves not only a reimagining of lacing but incorporates layering tulle over the boot.

“During the customisation process of the 1460 boot, I was thinking of creating a piece that could be play around daily,” she said. “By creating a piece of accessory shoelaces with my ‘adjustable cording’ technique, I provide an experimental tool that has multiple ways to style with the classic style of the 1460 boot.”

Cheng’s design, along with fellow winner Traiceline Pratt’s design, was seen on the Central Saint Martin MA Fashion runway during London Fashion Week in February.

Pratt’s boots skew more cool than conceptual. Seemingly one boot nestled inside the other, the shoe features the tops cuffed to reveal the inner style. It was inspired by one of her childhood friends who was a thief.

“I took a look down at her trousers and how she had them tucked in her socks and how her socks were laid over the shoes, it was a style a lot of girls in school did, but mixed with trousers because girls in school wore skirts and the guys wore pants with them tucked in their socks,” Pratt said. “That was how things came about, and from there, I deconstructed the 1460 boot and tried my best to recreate this idea into a boot that also complemented the 1460. At the end of the day, I didn’t want to tamper with the original design of the Docs because some things just aren’t meant to be messed with, and the 1460 is one of them.”

Valeria Pulici, a designer who once worked in-house at BOY London, saw the styles as a blank canvas. In the end, she decided to adjust the entire silhouette of the boot.

“I was researching the bullet bra from the 50’s which was the main inspiration for the cone on the 1460 Boot that eventually developed into a sort of weapon shape.” Pulici said about using waste materials to create the cone. “I thought it was a funny concept to have breasts on your feet!”

Finlay Vincent didn’t change the silhouette or design of the shoe much. Instead, by adding a button on the back, he made the footwear modular: the upper half could be added or removed changing it from a 1460 boot to a 1461 lace-up shoe.

“Why fix something that’s not broken,” he said. The concept fell squarely in line with what Dr. Martens means to him: “Uncompromising rebellious durability.” The technique also mirrors the modular approach Vincent takes to his own menswear label System.

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