Dr Martens 14XX concept launches with limited drop comes, new campaign

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 20, 2023

​Dr Martens unveiled its new vision under the Made Strong name in October and flagged new product initiative 14XX. Now it has launched a drop and campaign for 14XX that sees it “striding into a new, progressive realm”.

14XX is the brand’s “latest and most progressive channel”, mixing innovation with inspiration from the past, and after the launch party and general concept unveiling a few months ago, the Beta Pack product launch has just dropped (via selected statement retailers online with an extremely limited run) and has sold out globally within hours. 

And Dr Martens has selected what it says are “14 of the world’s most forward-thinking style icons, luminaries in their respective fields, for [an] uber-exclusive seeding drop”.

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The approach and the wider campaign were devised by Leeds-based creative agency Syn. The agency has also created campaigns for Eastpak, Under Armour, Adidas and Life Fitness.

The idea behind 14XX is blending workwear and streetwear to evolve and reinvent both the brand and key products such as the 1460, 1461 and 2976 boots in a very future-focused way.

The influencer faces of the launch include Spanish singer, songwriter, producer and actress Rosalia, described as an “atypical pop star” due to her genre-bending musical styles. Then there’s Edison Chen – the “polymathic Canadian born Hong Kong actor, singer, rapper, fashion designer and entrepreneur”. American artist A$AP Ferg, the Harlem-born founding member of the hip-hop collective A$AP Mob, is also on the 14XX shortlist. 

The company said “the seeding release marks the next phase in the 14XX launch narrative crafted and brought to life by Syn”. 

Paul Birkhead, creative partner at Syn said: “We’ve been given privileged access behind the scenes at Docs, which has really helped us to understand how to tell the 14XX story. Gleaning information from the product development team, archivists and the brand’s creative director Darren McKoy really allowed us to delve into the Docs DNA to create something unprecedented, something truly unique. 14XX is a category for innovation, pushing boundaries, looking back to allow them to leap forward.”

And McKoy added: “Dr Martens has always gone against the grain and 14XX marks a new design chapter of boundary-pushing, forward-thinking workwear for the brand. It’s all about taking the most durable, versatile, and iconic parts of our past and reimagining them for the future. Every 14XX product is an adaptation of a classic Dr Martens silhouette.”