Dr. Martens First-Half Revenue Falls 9.8% as Boots Decline 20%

Dr. Martens reported first-half fiscal 2027 revenue of £290.4 million, down 9.8 percent from £322.0 million a year earlier, as boot sales fell 20 percent in what chief executive officer Ije Nwokorie called a "historically hot summer." The reported loss narrowed to £8.5 million from £11.0 million in the first half of fiscal 2026.

The company disclosed the figures on Thursday. Nwokorie attributed the decline to two forces: exceptionally warm weather that suppressed boot demand, and planned changes to the direct-to-consumer proposition now rolling through the business.

"The weakness in boots combined with the impact of the planned critical changes to our direct-to-consumer proposition means that the H1 performance is disappointing," Nwokorie said. "While we saw resilience in shoes and sandals, this was not enough to mitigate the decline in boots. We lessened the impact on profit from the revenue decline with good gross margin performance and continued tight cost control."

How did regions perform?

The United States fell 5.1 percent, with wholesale outperforming direct-to-consumer sales. The United Kingdom dropped 21.3 percent. The DACH region — Germany, Austria and Switzerland — and Japan were broadly flat year over year.

Other managed markets declined 12.9 percent. Strength in South Korea and China was more than offset by weakness in France, Italy and Spain. Management said the second quarter came in weaker than the first.

What happened to boots?

Total boots revenue fell 20 percent and now accounts for 44 percent of first-half revenue, down from 49 percent a year ago. The weakness concentrated in core boot lines and in European and U.K. markets.

Not every boot underperformed. The company cited good performance from the Buzz Boot, the 1460 Dark Brown Crazy Horse boot, the Combs Tech boot and the Lowell Chukka. The pattern points to a category problem in carryover styles rather than a collapse across the full boot offer.

Shoes and sandals carried the mix. Shoes grew 1 percent against tough comparables and now represent 41 percent of revenue, up from 37 percent. The company reclassified mules into shoes; they previously sat within sandals. It flagged a "particularly good performance" in the Mary Jane and the Buzz shoe.

Sandals revenue rose 5 percent, led by the Dunnet Flower and Zebzag models, and reached 11 percent of the business, up from 10 percent. Dr. Martens will extend the franchise: a new sandals range arrives for spring/summer 2027, with further innovation in spring/summer 2028. Nwokorie said wholesale customer reaction has been "encouraging."

For sourcing and merchandising teams, the immediate implication is a half weighted toward newness in open footwear, while core boot capacity faces soft European demand. The margin and cost discipline narrowed the loss despite the revenue drop, which signals the company is protecting profitability while the DTC transition lands.

"While we are disappointed with our first-half performance, we are executing the strategy as planned," Nwokorie said. "The major programs are now landing, and we are focused on delivering a second-half weighted plan with big trading weeks just ahead of us. We are delivering the transformation we committed to while continuing to take decisions for the long-term health of the brand and the business."