Dr. Martens Boots Customisation
Customisation events are quite a thing for Dr. Martens shoes. There are stores in NYC that offers customisation from artists around the world. Here’s a blog taken from their official site, with artists traveling on a tour, customising boots. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Martens in their official store in Wheelock Place, Singapore. During the engagement, I was stationed in the store to customise boots with gold foil.
The process is simple, with any purchase of the boots you are entitled to have your boots customised. Customers can select from 3 lettering styles: Script letters, Block letters or Gothic/Blackletter. In my opinion, Gothic or Blackletter style suits very well with the brand culture.
I have customers who are crazy enough to give me the freedom to do whatever I want on their shoes. Some of their staffs even brought their own pairs to customise on the spot. Basically, people love to express themselves through personalising the items that they wear on a daily basis to show their personalities.
Consulting a customer on what sort of letter treatment to do
Gold foil pyrography on a pair of customer’s Dr. Martens boots
The method of applying gold foil on the leather is somewhat simple. The tool used is a pyrography tool which is also used for Wood burning. The foil is then placed on top of the leather surface. With the right temperature, you ‘burn’ the gold foil which in effect, transferring the foil onto the leather surface.
The tough part here, is to get the foil and leather as flat as possible. The foil has to set on level with the surface that you want to apply the foil. In some cases, I had to stretch the leather for the foil to be flat before I apply the foil onto the leather.
Here’s one long quote, given from a customer. She extends that this quote expresses her thoughts. Done in Gothic or Blackletter style.
“Empowering generations of wearers since our first pair of boots rolled off the production line in 1960. This is the home of rebellious self-expression.”
Simple name placement around the boot’s ankle.
Gothic or Blackletter letters on a customer’s shoe. It was the customer’s birthday gift.
The event was well received and I’ve had lots of fun during the event. There will a next engagement happening on 31 May and 1 June 2019. Stay tuned for more pictures as I will update them in this post!
