The rise to fame of the Australasian brand Ugg (it is hotly disputed as to whether Australia or New Zealand was the boots’ original home, though it was Australian surfer Brian Smith who started selling the boots in the US through Ugg Holdings Inc in 1979, with Deckers registering UGG Australia in 1999) has been of an inexplicable and meteoric nature. Virtually unknown one year, and then on the pages of every magazine the next, this trend’s less-than-appealing aesthetic in its boots should have meant that this was a here-today, gone-tomorrow trend, but so far it has not proved to be so. As well as the boots’ questionable appearance, they are also impractical outdoor footwear: while they keep feet warm (that much is indisputable), their softness means they are not especially hardwearing or waterproof, and would explain why in the country of the boots’ origin, they are worn indoors as slippers.
Interestingly, Ugg boots also transcend social class: while often denounced as chavvy or white-trash, rahs born with a silver spoon in their mouths can also be seen wearing them across the developed world (usually accompanied by skinny jeans, a high-end polo shirt or hoodie, and ‘messy’ hair that actually took hours to create). This, when all put together, makes the brand’s success somewhat enigmatic. The date of the Ugg boots’ genesis has never been pinpointed exactly, with stories ranging to WW1 pilots wearing them in unpressurised planes, to Olympic swimmers of the 1960s using them to keep warm when out of the water. It was, however, celebrities such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Pamela Anderson who set the trend rolling as of the early 2000s.
Though most known for their boots, UGG also sell coats, pillows and rugs, as well as men’s and kids’ ranges, and the brand’s popularity shows no sign of waning as we enter a new decade.