Hours into my flight to London, I was looking across a dark sky that was beginning to reveal itself as we pushed eastward toward the slowly blooming sunlight. Pale blue cirrostratus clouds above, transitioning to a thin beam of dull orange, cut off sharply at the horizon by a uniform layer of black clouds masking the ocean below. Some twelve hours earlier, in the midst of a day full of Zoom meetings, I dragged a DHL box up the stairs, in it was something that I wasnât sure would be delivered before I left town. If left outside, the contents would have been snatched up by any opportunistic package thief that happened to have the timing just right. I would have watched them on my doorbell camera, quickly assessing the scene before hefting it against their belly and walking out of frame. And I, like all but a few dozen people, would not have had any other opportunity to own what had been announced as the âfan exclusiveâ pair of Doctor Martens 1460s, one design of four that were made to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Downward Spiral â but the only ones you couldnât buy.
Fortunately, I was home for the delivery. In between on-camera meetings, I opened up the box and found a card in an Dr Martens envelope, a big black shoebox embossed with elements of âWoundâ â the Russell Mills piece that was chosen as the cover artwork for 1994âs The Downward Spiral â as well as a copy of that very album on vinyl, signed by Trent Reznor; a fantastic surprise, but I didnât have time to absorb it all. I was about to take two weeks off, and I had work to wrap up before I left the country, so I put it all on my kitchen table and went back to my desk.
Earlier that week, the detailed announcement went out on several online publications - âMarch of the Docs: Nine Inch Nails Releases Limited-Edition Dr. Martens Collabâ was the headline Rolling Stone was supposed to roll out that morning, but technical issues meant Hypebeast beat them to the punch, with a headline absent of any ornamentation: âDr. Martens x Nine Inch Nails Release âThe Downward Spiralâ Footwear Collectionâ - these were timed to go live alongside NIN Creative Director (and longtime fan) John Crawfordâs responses to a Reddit AMA that we launched July 8th. Over 1500 people had responded to the AMA with questions about the collaboration, although the only imagery they had to go off at the time were some teaser images of black boots with a NIN zipper, chunky translucent soles, and a pattern in the leather. When the press embargo was lifted, three other designs were revealed - 1460s (the traditional Dr Marten shape) featuring the album art in a stark black and white presentation, 1461s (Oxford shoes) with âSalt & Teethâ artwork and âthe downward spiralâ titling in glossy black, and 1490 10-eye mid-calf boots that evoke the live performances of the era with a âcornstarchâ print, done on white leather in a way that, as the boots are worn and weathered, more of that white core will reveal from beneath the skin.
According to the press, and to the Dr Martens website, these black boots I had in my possession were a âfan exclusiveâ that were unavailable to purchase, but which would be âgifted to the bandâs most ardent supporters,â including five fans on Reddit and five fans on Discord, selected at random from related pre-launch events on both platforms. Having helped organize the AMA, one of the folks I was dealing with at Dr Martens asked my address and shoe size - telegraphing the surprise, but in a post-COVID world where working from home is more common than itâs been in centuries, you canât just reach out to someoneâs office and coordinate with a coworker on something like that anymore.
During a free moment, I snapped a photo for friends, and when I took a late lunch, I put them on to make sure they fit, and took them for a quick walk to lunch. Itâs not more than a mile each way, and I know better than to wear brand new Docs without extra protection, but on my way home I was already limping, and I knew I had given myself heel blisters just in time for my vacation. I got back to my rowhome, put my new boots away, took a few more meetings, and then headed to the airport.
We were in London because Iâm married to a composer, and she had a piece being premiered at Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms. The plan was, after the concert and the post-concert socialization, weâd visit the flagship Dr Martens store in Camden Town, maybe snap some pictures of the display, and pick a pair of the Cornstarch 1490s up in Melissaâs size, since we wouldnât be home for another two weeks. By Friday afternoon, I had heard the boots were sold out online in about five minutes, and I had concerns about being able to secure a pair locally in Philadelphia after half a month had passed. Of course, if youâve read this far, you know where this is goingâŚ
When we got to the market in Camden Town, we met up with the person at Doc Martens Iâd been talking to online for about a month - and I learned that the warehouses were empty, the boots were completely sold out, and there were no plans to do a second run. And that even if there was a second run, it would take something like six months for a batch like that to be commercially available. Keeping up online, I also saw social media updates from Charlie Clouser, Richard Patrick, Hideo Kojima, and others, posting about receiving their âfan exclusiveâ boots. On Reddit and various social platforms, there was a lot of blowback from fans who were upset they werenât able to get boots, and people were vocal about how the boots that were teased ahead of the release were their favorite and they werenât even available to purchase, so what was the point of it all?
All that added up to me feeling weird having these boots, even though I know I shouldnât feel weird! Iâve been running a fan website about Nine Inch Nails since 1995. Iâm kind of the target for these things, and itâs okay to accept that.
So here I am, a few weeks later. Contrary to the popular narrative, it wasnât all bots that bought the boots (although there are pairs on the second hand market for exorbitant prices, regrettably) - fans were posting shots of their deliveries arriving, the overall mood became a little less dour and a little more enthusiastic. The disappointment having largely boiled off, I finally shook off the anxiety around the launch, and decided it was time to share some details about this unobtainum footwear.
I have only seen pictures of the rest of the NINxDM collaboration, but even just based on those, there are additional details in this pair I have that bring them up an extra notch. I think the cornstarch boots are cool, but these black-on-black, debossed 10-eyelet boots are a little more reminiscent of the Corcoran Jump Boots I wore in the late 90s, by comparison. There are additional features that preclude me from calling these, in any way, a subtle design: an angled zip on the interior of the boots, as well as translucent platform soles seem to be a nod to the Rick Owens Tractor Boots that Trent Reznor sported during the Cold and Black and Infinite tour. In a Reddit post seeking identification of the 00 boots two years ago, one of the commenters presciently suggested âMaybe a pedestrian like us could get away with some Doc Martens.â Maybe, if you were quick on the draw.
Beyond the boots themselves, there are great details in things like the packaging, the tag, and even the tissue paper. Each of the boots has its own box art, but these in particular follow the same theme: a debossed, black-on-black representation of Russell Millsâ âWoundâ, as seen on the cover of the album. The tag also has this embossing/debossing, and itâs difficult to capture in photography, at least not as effectively as you can see it in a video clip.
As has been happening since I started paying attention in the 90s, there were people complaining that Doc Martens had gone up in price, but down in quality. DM has been using offshore factories for decades - and when you look it up, the cost of Docs has more or less stayed consistent with inflation. Given the extra manufacturing involved in creating the details on the boots, the price was certainly affordable enough for them to sell out online in just minutes. Compare these to
the N.I.C.E. Collective collaboration about a decade ago - the street price for those Made in San Francisco boots came out to $1100. On the other end of the spectrum,
Caterpillar produced âReznorâ urban oxfords (no official affiliation) for about , and the reviews for those indicate they last about three months.
Thereâs a line in a Crass song from the late 70s, âpunk became a fashion like hippie used to be,â and thereâs no denying that in the 21st century, Doc Martens as a brand has embraced their fashion cachet - but theyâre still solid working class boots. And while most people I saw around London were wearing sneakers, there were still alt culture kids sporting Docs - and tons more of that when we dropped by Brighton Beach for a couple of hours.
Will we see another run of NIN boots from Doc Marten? Whoâs to tell. A new CEO is waiting in the wings, as the company wrestles with globalization, fast fashion, and new generations of people who may be less amenable to footwear with a break-in period. But given the reaction from the people who managed to snag a pair (or three), letâs hope that we see a follow-up in 2025, especially as NIN returns to the global stage, following in the footsteps of Daft Punk and Wendy Carlos before them, producing music for the latest Tron film. A modern style NIN boot would make for a nice follow-up to the 90s throwback, wouldnât it?
You can view the full set of photos on Flickr, in full resolution, and juicy EXIF data if you have a taste for that.
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