Freddie Mercury's Much Worn Boots, 1970s

Freddie Mercury’s Much Worn Boots, 1970s

A pair of 1970s dark red and olive-green leather calf-length boots by Alan Mair with square toe, brown stacked wood heels (6 cm. high), lined in black leather with inside leg zip fastening, unlabelled, no size present [much worn]

The heavy signs of wear on these boots indicates that they were a favourite of Freddie’s, perhaps used exclusively off-stage, as photographs of them have not been identified as yet.

Although these platform boots are unmarked, they can be identified as handmade Alan Mair leather boots by their distinctive style. Alan Mair, who opened his first store in Kensington Market in 1970 is said to have been the only one making footwear of this kind in London at this time. Alan Mair Boots soon became the go-to footwear for the biggest names in Rock, his business boomed, he opened further London outlets and ran out of time to oversee his first London store. It was then that he recruited fellow market clothes stall stalwart Freddie Mercury to run his flagship Kensington Market shop for him. Freddie worked in the Alan Mair Boot store between circa 1970 until the release of Queen’s first hit 'Seven Seas Of Rhye' on 23 February 1974, the wages being his main source of income before Queen’s commercial success.

Alan Mair, a 1960s beat musician from Glasgow, moved into the fashion industry in the late 1960s, opening a stall in Kensington market in 1970. In a recent interview Mair recalled “I knew a lot of bands so I started making clothes for them.” Working with leather Mair initially sold leather trousers, then fringed jackets and outfits for men and women before specialising in handmade leather boots. Mair cornered the market with his shoe and boot designs in the early 1970s and Alan Mair Boots became synonymous with hip fashionistas supplying everyone from Santana, Yes, The Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Keith Moon, Alex Harvey to David Bowie and Queen. Mair recalled “…One of the best adverts was the Santana double-gate sleeve [1972]. The whole band are sat on this couch and wearing my boots. Early shots of Queen were the same…” 

Mair recounts how burgeoning musicians Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor had their clothes stall opposite his own Kensington market boutique, and Freddie had told him that he’d been to a party recently [circa 1970] where everyone, men, and women, were wearing the boots. He said: “I don’t know if you realise, but you’re not considered cool unless you’re wearing Alan Mair boots.”

Very soon demand for Alan Mair boots outstripped supply and Mair turned his large workshop in Kentish town into a small factory making 300 to 400 pairs a week in the early 1970s progressing to orders for up to 3,000 pairs a week by 1975. In circa 1970 Mair’s business commitments meant that he could no longer focus on his Kensington store, and it was then that he called on Freddie, to oversee the running of his main boutique. Mair’s store was far busier than Freddie’s own clothes emporium, and now Roger Taylor had moved on from their business Freddie, within a few weeks, decided to close his own shop down and become Mair’s full-time shop manager.

Mair described Freddie as a good salesman, very quiet and easy going, likeable and modest about his own songwriting career. It was whilst working in the store that Freddie met David Bowie for the first time in 1972 shortly after the release of ‘Ziggy Stardust’. Despite the record’s success, Bowie was still very hard up and when he visited the store Alan Mair recalls asking Freddie to fit Bowie with a pair of platform boots for free as Bowie couldn’t afford to buy them himself.

The characteristics of the Alan Mair boot are: square toed, with double leather soles and a stacked heel. Famous for their platform boots in particular, Alan Mair’s boots had anything between half an inch to 2-inch platforms. For a three-layer sole the middle one was a different colour. For the soles a heavy adhesive was used rather than stitching.

LITERATURE

‘The Glasgow Bootmaker Who Ordered Freddie Mercury To Fit David Bowie With A Pair Of Platforms’, David McLean Article, Glasgow Live, 27 March 2022

‘When Freddie Mercury Sold Boots at Kensington Market’ Interview with Alan Mair and Tom Semioli, 25 March, 2020 on You Tube

‘Alan Mair: Bootmaker To The Stars’ internet article on Ops & Ops, 18 August 2019

‘Queen As It Began’ Jacky Smith & Jim Jenkins, Omnibus Press, 2022, pp.82-83

SPECIAL NOTICE

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