Dr Martens gives Central Saint Martins students chance to reinterpret 1460 boot

Dr Martens has teamed up with Central Saint Martins for a second time to offer standout MA Fashion course students the chance to use the brand’s famous 1460 boot as "a new expressive canvas".

Nine finalists have been selected by a panel of judges led by MA Fashion Course Leader, Fabio Piras, and Dr Martens Global Creative Director, Darren McKoy.

Four winners, who will be announced in February 2024, will receive a £5,000 bursary from Dr Martens to help them develop ideas during their final academic term. They will also get the chance to work with Dr Martens’ Camden-based product and design teams to produce a limited-edition run of prototype boots.

The prototypes will be authentically manufactured products that will also feature in their graduate shows, as well as showcased at an installation as part of London Fashion Week.

As part of the competition, each student will style a final look from their graduate collection with their version of the 1460. They will also be photographed for a portrait to celebrate the collaboration, wearing their 1460 boots.

The result will be nine radically different looks, and "a new chapter in Dr Martens collaborative legacy". Each part of the process will be documented by the students on social media, developing 2023 versions of the Dr Martens eight-holed classic boot that first hit the street on 1 April 1960.

The nine finalists are; Atli Alfredsson, Joyce Bao, Dhruv Bandil, Yanya Cheng (Alice), Alvaro Martinez, Valeria Pulici, Maximillian Raynor, Traiceline Pratt and Finlay Vincent Roberts.

Joining Piras and McCoy as judges, are Founder of Fashion East, Lulu Kennedy, and Supreme VP of Design, Erin Magee.