A pair of ugg boots

Ugg boots (sometimes called uggs)are known in Australia and New Zealand as a unisex style of sheepskin boot made of twin-faced sheepskin with fleece on the inside and with a tanned outer surface, often with a synthetic sole. The boots originated in those countries, initially as utilitarian footwear worn for warmth and comfort and later adopted by surfers there during the 1960s. In the 1970s, the boots were introduced to the surf culture of the United Kingdom and the United States by local surfers returning from surfing competitions in Australia. Ugg boots emerged as a fashion trend in the United States in the late 1990s and as a world-wide trend in the late 2000s, yet in Australia they are worn predominantly as slippers and associated with  daggy fashion sense, and bogan culture.

There has been a dispute between some manufacturers of ugg boots, as to whether "ugg" is a protected trademark, or a generic term and thus ineligible for trademark protection. In Australia and New Zealand, where the term is considered generic, more than 70 registered trade marks include the term UGG in various logos and designs.By contrast, UGG is a registered trademark of the California-based Deckers Outdoor Corporation in over 140 countries worldwide including the U.S. and China.

History

Cutting ugg boot pieces from a sheepskin using a cutting press

Stitching the innersole of an ugg boot

The origins of the ugg boot style are disputed, with both Australia and New Zealand claiming to have invented the footwear. Sheepskin boots were known in rural Australia during the 1920s,but exactly when commercial manufacturing began is unclear. They were reportedly being manufactured in 1933 by “Blue Mountains Ugg Boots” of New South Wales.Mortels Sheepskin Factory have stated that they began manufacturing the boots in the late 1950s, while Perth sheepskin boot manufacturers Bruce and Bronwyn McDougall of "Uggs and Rugs" have manufactured the boots since the late 1970s.

The term ugg boots, ugh boots and ug boots are believed to have been used to describe sheepskin boots in Australia and New Zealand since the late 1950s. Although some accounts have suggested that the term grew out of earlier variations, such as the "fug boots" worn by pilots during World War I,a number of individuals claim to have originated the term, such as Frank Mortel of Mortels Sheepskin Factory, who says he named his company’s sheepskin boots "ugg boots" in 1958 after his wife commented that the first pair he made were "ugly."Manufacturer Shane Stedman, who has stated in interviews that he had invented the ugg boot in 1973,registered the trademark "UGH-BOOTS" in Australia in 1971, and in 1982 registered the word "UGH" and a logo containing a stylised Sun with the words "UGG AUSTRALIA".

The 1970s saw the emergence of advertising using the terms, and the Macquarie Dictionary of the Australian language first included a definition for “ugg boot” as a generic term for sheepskin boots in its 1981 edition.(After Stedman complained to the editors of Macquarie, a trademark notation was added to subsequent editions indicating that “UGH” was a trade mark).

In the 1960s, ugg boots became a popular option for competitive surfers, who used the boots to keep their feet warm after exiting from the surf.After movie theaters in Sydney banned ugg boots and ripped jeans, the footwear became somewhat popular in the youth market as a sign of rebellion.Sheepskin footwear accounts for around 10% of footwear production in Australia.

International sales

Surfing helped popularise the boots outside Australia and New Zealand. Advertisements for Australian sheepskin boots, advertised as “ugg boots", first appeared in Californian surf magazines in 1970. By the mid-1970s, several surf shops in Santa Cruz, California and the San Fernando Valley were selling a limited number of sheepskin boots purchased by the shops' owners while visiting surfing events in Australia.In 1978, a Western Australian manufacturer of sheepskin "boots, Country Leather, advertised outside Australia for distributors to sell its ugg boots.Seeing the popularity of the boots among American surfers, Australian surfer Brian Smith, then living in Santa Monica, California, and Doug Jensen applied to be their United States distributors. Family friends invested $20,000 into the new venture and the group set up Ugg Imports.Due to other business commitments, in 1979 Jensen handed over his share of the company to Smith. In 1987 Smith registered Ugg Holdings Inc. and in 1985 registered a US trademark on a ram's head logo with the words "Original UGG Boot UGG Australia." In 1995, Ugg Holdings purchased Stedman's various trademarks.As for the ugg name, Smith stated: "We always called them uggs, long before it was a trademarked brand.

Shoe manufacturer "Hide & Feet" in Newquay, Cornwall began manufacturing ugg boots in 1973, and in 1990, Nick Whitworth and his wife Kath bought the business and registered “UGG” as a trade mark in the UK. Due to increasing popularity and sales, in 1991 the company changed its name to "The Original Ugg Co." In 1999, Whitworth sold the company name and the British UGG trade mark to Deckers Outdoor Corporation, renaming his company the Celtic Sheepskin Company.

By 1994, UGG boots had grown in status among surfers in California with 80% of sales in southern Orange County where Ugg Holdings saw an increase in sales of 60% on the previous season. Smith's Ugg boots later gained international exposure when they were worn by the U.S. Olympic team in Lillehammer for the 1994 Winter Olympics.Australian manufacturers also saw an increase in exports of sheepskin boots to the United States, although Ugg Holdings retained an estimated 80% market share. By the end of the year, Country Leather had opened its own shop in Redondo Beach to promote an expansion of the brand from its established surf market into mainstream footwear sales. In early 1995, Smith promoted the UGG AUSTRALIA brand on the Rush Limbaugh show, which spurred sales while the brand gained further exposure when the San Diego Chargers started wearing them. According to retailers, it was not just the footwear that attracted consumers, but the "made in Australia" tie-in as the boots were a unique product only available from Australia and Australian products were at that time very popular. In August 1995, Smith sold Ugg Holdings to Deckers Outdoor Corporation for $14.6 million.In 1996 Deckers registered the various trademarks for "UGG" in the US.In 1999, Ruth Davis, vice president of marketing for Deckers Outdoor Corp stated in an interview; "In Australia, there's a lot of sheep, and Ugg is the generic word for sheepskin footwear. We made it a brand name in the [United] States.

Generally worn for warmth and comfort, Australian ugg boots had never been considered fashionable in their country of origin,but in 2001 sheepskin boots emerged as a fashion trend in the US through Deckers' promotions of the UGG brand, with celebrities such as Kate Hudson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lopez wearing the boots, and with Oprah Winfrey featuring UGG brand boots as one of her "Favorite Things" on her TV talk show.Deckers' actions to promote their product "led to an exponential growth in the brand's popularity and recognizability.

The company reported US$689 million in UGG sales in 2008,almost a 50-fold increase from 1995.By way of contrast, ugg boots in Australia were worn predominantly as slippers and associated with "daggy fashion sense, bogan behaviour" and the "outer suburbs" when worn in public.