Darren McKoy

Global Creative Director, Dr. Martens

Darren McKoy – known to all at Dr. Martens as ‘DMac’ – now serves as DM’s Global Creative Director, having been part of the leadership for the design and product teams at DM’s for over four years.

Hailing from his heart-town and homeland of Sheffield, Darren converted a youthful love of sport – which sparked an early obsession with the form and fit of football boots – into a career dedicated to functional footwear.

Darren cut his teeth whilst studying Retail Marketing Management in Leeds and received an early education in streetwear and brand curation at the iconic men’s retailer Hip. This gave a foundation of true vocational learning – forming the next 20 years of his career and starting a journey where ergonomics, durability and the touch and feel of a product would be absolutely paramount in eliciting an emotional response from wearers.

Roles at several large British retailers soon followed before two transformative Product positions at Adidas (Originals) and The North Face (Off-Mountain) both added new layers to DMac’s personal design codes and inspirations – via exploring, reworking and redefining iconic archival pieces. Always pushing forward but reinvigorating with an ethos built around respect for what has come before.

Headhunted for Asics Tiger Onitsuka – during this time Darren’s passion for heritage resulted in an enhanced focus on specialist design: building and developing intrinsic narratives but repurposing them for the future. By acknowledging and respecting heritage codes such as colour and materials, this set the scene for a career of cherishing brand legacy whilst building designs for the modern day.

2015 is when Darren joined the iconic British brand Dr. Martens. Attracted by his own passion for self-expression and sub-cultures, Darren has made huge contributions to the company during his tenure. This includes the 1460 Remastered collection – the 60th Anniversary celebration that featured 12 x collaborations with eminent fashion and streetwear brands including Raf Simmons and Marc Jacobs – being a project that evolved from a company-wide position of authenticity and respect for Dr. Marten’s core values.

Being one of the few Creative Directors to shun the traditional pathway, Darren takes a holistic approach to his role looking beyond just design and aesthetic to also include creative process, brand positioning and retail experience. For a company steeped in sub-cultural history he believes passionately in being a custodian as much as innovators. Staying true to the DNA that started as a workman’s boot and grew into an international cultural icon.

As a leader Darren emphasises the importance of teamwork and the death of ego. Trusting and elevating the skills of those around him DMac is guided by his philosophy – ‘Make good stuff, evoke an emotional response, respect brand heritage’.