Wollaston, Northamptonshire — home of NPS since the late 19th century

British Footwear · Made in Wollaston

Solovair : UK Icon

Solovair is not a tribute to the original Dr. Martens factory — it is the original Dr. Martens factory. For thirty-five years, the Northamptonshire Productive Society (NPS) built boots and shoes under license as "Dr. Martens by Solovair," using the same air-cushion sole, the same Goodyear welt, and the same Wollaston workshop that started it all. When production moved overseas in the mid-1990s, NPS kept building the shoes exactly as before, under its own name.

Everything Solovair makes today still comes out of that one factory, stitched by hand, built to be resoled rather than replaced.

+ Wollaston and the Northamptonshire Productive Society

In the late 19th century, a group of skilled shoemakers from the village of Wollaston came together to form the Northamptonshire Productive Society. They secured a government contract to produce army boots, and as industrialisation spread, demand for well-made boots grew both in England and overseas. As NPS expanded, the Society moved into a purpose-built factory to keep pace — the same site the brand still works from today.

This is the part of the story that gets lost when Solovair is filed under "Dr. Martens alternative." NPS was building boots for the British Army before Dr. Martens existed as a brand. The relationship, when it eventually formed, ran the other way.

The NPS factory floor

What actually makes a pair of Solovair shoes

+ Goodyear Welt, Air-Cushion Sole

Goodyear welted construction
The upper, insole, and welt are stitched together in a strip around the shoe rather than glued. The sole can be removed and replaced without touching the upper — the difference between resoling a shoe for decades and replacing it every few years.

The air-cushion sole
In 1945, Dr. Klaus Maertens, recovering from a skiing accident, found his standard-issue army boots unbearable and developed an air-cushioned sole in response. Local factories were tasked with manufacturing it, and in 1959, NPS built the first boots to carry it — the beginning of the sole this factory is still known for.

The 3-Eye Gibson
The clearest expression of the factory's original silhouette — a simple derby-style lace-up with the welt visible at the edge of the sole, built in the same hi-shine and greasy leathers the factory has always worked in.

Leather uppers, cut and closed by hand
Panels are still cut and closed on-site rather than outsourced, which is part of why colourways like Oxblood and Black Hi-Shine hold their shape and sheen the way older pairs are known to.

Built to be repaired
Because the welt is stitched rather than cemented, a worn Solovair sole is a repair job, not a replacement decision — the same logic behind URAHARA's own denim repair service.

Solovair Gibson Hi-Shine Black Leather Shoes – classic English-made oxford style, front view.

1959 — the first air-cushion sole leaves the factory floor

+ Dr. Martens by Solovair

For the next thirty-five years, NPS produced boots and shoes under license for Dr. Martens, sold as "Dr. Martens by Solovair." Solovair — "sole of air" — became shorthand for comfort and durability among postmen, police officers, and factory workers who wore the boots for work, not for style.

"Colour and shine in workwear was never aesthetic. It was functional — until the people wearing it decided otherwise."

By the 1970s, the same boots had taken on a second life among punks, skinheads, and new wave musicians. Nobody at the factory designed for that audience. The boots simply held up under wear that nothing else in a wardrobe could survive, and the look followed the durability rather than the other way around.

The boots outlasted the era that adopted them

+ When Dr. Martens Left, Solovair Stayed

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Martens expanded production overseas and parted ways with NPS. Quality at Dr. Martens declined in the way mass relocation usually costs a brand its edge. NPS registered the name "Solovair" and kept building the boots exactly as before — same welt, same sole, same Wollaston factory.

That continuity is the whole argument for buying Solovair over the brand it once made under license. Nothing about the construction changed when the name did. What changed was who still had it.

Solovair Shoes

13 items

A pair of Solovair Tassel Loafers at URAHARA Melbourne

Footwear

50 items

Accessories

27 items

+ Buying Something That Can Be Repaired

A Goodyear welted sole is designed to be replaced, not thrown away with the rest of the shoe. Cared for with a renovating cream and kept off wet ground for long stretches, a pair of Solovair shoes is built around decades of wear rather than a single season.

That's also why the brand's recent collaborations — with London's Ronning, New York's Noah, and British designer Margaret Howell — read as endorsements rather than marketing. Each is a studio that already builds for longevity choosing a factory that does the same.

Since 1881, NPS has combined traditional shoemaking with newer materials and techniques without changing what the factory is for. Solovair today is the clearest way to buy that factory's work directly.

+ Frequently Asked Questions

Not the same company, but the same origin. Solovair is made by NPS (the Northamptonshire Productive Society), the factory that manufactured boots under license as "Dr. Martens by Solovair" for thirty-five years before Dr. Martens moved production overseas in the mid-1990s. NPS kept building to the same specification under its own name.

A method of stitching the upper, insole, and outsole together around a welt strip rather than gluing them. It means the sole can be unstitched and replaced without damaging the upper, so a worn pair can be resoled rather than discarded.

Yes. Goodyear welted construction is built around resoling. URAHARA offers denim repair and alteration services in-house; for sole replacement on Solovair footwear specifically, get in touch and we can point you to the right resoler.

Solovair's own renovating cream is formulated for the smooth and aniline leathers used across the range and is worth applying regularly rather than only when a pair starts to dry out. Keep shoes off wet ground for extended periods and let them air-dry naturally rather than near direct heat.

Solovair footwear runs in UK sizing. If you're between sizes, most customers find their usual UK size works well; a cushioned leather insole is also available separately if you want to fine-tune the fit.

The 3-Eye Gibson is Solovair's original derby-style lace-up shoe and the clearest expression of the factory's founding silhouette. The range also includes penny and tassel loafers, and Goodyear welted hiker boots such as the Urban Hiker and Gaucho Crazy Horse, built on the same welted sole system.

England — at the NPS factory in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, the same site the Society has worked from since it was founded.