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Brand: JJJJound x Dr. Martens
Buy: Dr. Martens’ website from July 31 for $250
Editor’s Notes: Given the sheer craziness of today’s collaborative shoes, JJJJound’s new Dr. Martens tie-up could potentially get lost in the shuffle of endless footwear drops. That borderline basicness is the antithesis of excess, though, and it holds its own inherent appeal: Dr. Martens makes some of the world’s greatest staple shoes, so why mess with success?
Consider JJJJound understated New Balance, Danner, and Eddie Bauer partnerships as the minimalist forebears of these co-branded Docs. Detractors could decry the efforts as boring, while devotees deem them brilliantly understated. Neither stance is entirely without merit but these Dr. Martens are some of JJJJound’s finest bespoke shoes to date, if only because of their British-made quality.
For this project, JJJJound has selected the Archie II, a derby that’s slimmer than the signature 1461 but retains many of the iconic Doc touches. For instance, there are those yellow welt stitches, smooth leather uppers, leather sockliners, grippy rubber outsoles, and all the other touches one expects from Dr. Martens shoes.
However, there are plenty of other accents that make these not Dr. Martens or, at least, not ordinary Docs. Take that little beige tab under the left shoe’s blind eyelet vamp — it’s small but not invisible, a typical JJJJound design cue.
The color palette is also indicative of JJJJound’s attention to detail, though: it opted to utilize distinct leather makes — Wyoming (black) with smoke-toned outsole and Crazy Horse (brown) with a translucent outsole — instead of the usual Dr. Martens neutrals for an earthy, textural finish. Importantly, these shoes are all given life by the craftspeople in Dr. Marten’s Wollaston factory, granting a heightened level of quality that plays into JJJJound’s heritage-conscious aesthetic.
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