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From punk rock to high finance: Dr. Martens to debut on London Stock Exchange

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It was once the preferred footwear of punks, grunge-rockers, and other misfits.

Now, Dr. Martens is going mainstream, as shares in the company will debut on the London Stock Exchange Wednesday.

John Fluevog, the legendary Vancouver-based shoe designer and retailer, has a long history with the footwear.

“We were the first ones in North America — our tiny little company here in Vancouver — to import them. That was back in probably 1973,” he said. “They were an alternative kind of footwear at that point. It was like punks and things in the U.K. wearing them. Basically, they’ve always been a work boot.”

Related: A new stage: Dr Martens valued $5 billion in share sale

Fluevog figures investors who grew up wearing them will happily invest in a brand they recognize and trust.

“I think that as they go mainstream in an IPO, people of that generation are now investors and they’re going ‘Oh, Doc Martens!’ It’s a name they know … I get it, it kind of works,” he said.

Today, 11 million pairs of “Docs” are sold every year in more than 60 countries.

“They still remain what they were to begin with. I can criticize them, easily, I can — there’s other things about them I don’t like — but they remained a decent piece of footwear,” Fluevog told NEWS 1130.

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