Dr. Martens Highlights the Steps Every Artist Takes to Get to the Big Stages with Nu Souls

How does an icon become an icon? This is the story of the Nu Souls, those who are preparing to become icons, but still do so much far from the spotlight.

C41 created and produced a new editorial campaign for Dr. Martens, launched through a video teaser that recounts and reconstructs the steps every artist takes to get to the big stages. From the uncertainty of the zero point to feeling that everything is finally possible.

Celebrating the 10 years of the Jadon Platform, Dr. Martens aims, once again, to establish itself as an iconic brand for an entire generation of style leaders. From millennials to generation z, Dr. Martens is able to cross time gaps and be an eternal reference point, far beyond the passing fashions. A symbol of rebellion and freedom, of diversity and self-expression, which find full manifestation in the musical context. Every artist, sooner or later, has defined himself through a pair of Dr. Martens, at the same time redefining the identity of the boot itself. The Jadon is the shoe for those who want to go further while remaining true to themselves, and not relegating all self-expression to clothing. It is a shoe that claims to be there, turning the spotlight on the wearer. Timeless. Trendsetting. Unique. Just as the Nu Souls.

Making their way through suburban stages and rehearsal halls, the Nu Souls are preparing to conquer the main scene. Exponents of a new genre, born from the reinterpretation of ‘70s R&B and soul in a contemporary key, through pop and electronic sounds. But they also represent the return of an interiority (in the lyrics and the mood) that was gradually disappearing in the latest commercial drifts of pop and trap music. 

C41 went in search of the emerging young icons from Milan who characterise this world and who will soon conquer it. Wearing a pair of Dr. Martens, they can finally express themselves. Visualising the stories of Ethan (voice), Julie Ant (saxophone), Andrea Dissimile (drummer), and Evissimax (DJ), the teaser video recounts the journey of an icon.

Step 1 - THINK IT

First of all, an idea needs to be explored and experimented. In this first step, we get to know the artists in the place of reference for their creative process: from the bedroom to the rehearsal room, passing through any other place that is significant in the process of conception and composition, like a Chinese restaurant or a car park.

Step 2 - MAKE IT

Once conceived, an idea has to be realised. The artists are called to become who they really are, and we follow them in this important process, together with the people they feel closest to. Hair, clothes, and shoes: everything participates in the definition of an increasingly defined and personal identity. And finally, they can also wear their Jadon.

Step 3 - SHOW IT

Now, at the end of this journey, it’s their turn. The last step is when they can finally share with the audience what they have created: the performance, as well as themselves. The artists are portrayed during the moment when they show us all that they created and what they really can be. There it is the public itself that will determine the success of the project. To decide, in the end, what could really become an icon.

Each of them had the opportunity to build his own myth, through the most classic of heroes’ journeys. And within these contemporary mythologies, every rule is subverted. Thus the stage, together with the parterre, becomes a perimeter within which to begin writing one’s own story, with no more fear of the spotlights. And they became, ultimately, icons.