sheepskin boot see ugg boots . ugg industry retail founded 1978 founder brian smith headquarters goleta california u.s. area served worldwide products footwear accessories revenue 1.8 billion 1 parent deckers brands website www.uggaustralia.com ugg is an american footwear company and is a division of the deckers brands . ugg is a registered trademark in the united states and over 130 other countries for footwear as well as bags clothing outerwear home goods and other products . deckers is headquartered in goleta california 2 with an e commerce division located in flagstaff arizona . 3 the ugg brand is best known for its distinctive classic sheepskin boots for both men and women . 4 with roots in traditional australian ugg boot design the boots have developed over the years to become what is now known as the ugg classic style . ugg brand boots have been identified as a fashion trend for women and men since the early 2000s . 5 6 the range has expanded to include various styles of footwear including leather canvas and other materials handbags clothing outerwear hats gloves home products such as blankets and pillows and other goods . deckers has reported sales of us 689 million under the ugg brand in 2008 7 an increase from us 14.5 million in 1995 . 8 the company s profits have consistently increased over the years with sales exceeding 1 billion consecutively since 2011 . 2 9 contents 1 history 2 in popular culture 3 trademark disputes 4 counterfeiting 5 concern for animals 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . june 2016 a pair of ugg boots ugg was originally founded in california in 1978 10 by australian surfer brian smith and doug jensen . smith was living in santa monica california after studying at ucla s anderson school of management . 11 smith and jensen first applied to be the united states distributors for the western australian sheepskin boot manufacturer country leather . unhappy with the brand smith trademarked ugg . 4 later family friends invested 20 000 into the venture and the group set up ugg imports . in their first season in business ugg imports sold 28 pairs of boots . due to other business commitments in 1979 jensen handed over his share of the company to smith . sales steadily grew and smith set up ugg holdings inc. and in 1985 registered a us trademark on a rams head logo with the words original ugg boot ugg australia . 12 by 1994 80 percent of ugg s sales were in southern orange county but the company gained international attention after the boots were worn by the u.s. olympic team in lillehammer for the 1994 winter olympics . 11 in 1995 deckers brands acquired smith s business for 14.6 million and continued to expand it . 13 during the late 1990s ugg began experiencing double digit sales growth as deckers developed the company into an international brand . in 2003 ugg boots were included on oprah winfrey s show as part of oprah s favorite things . 14 afterwards the brand received an unprecedented surge in sales . 14 15 in 2006 ugg opened its first brick and mortar store in new york s soho neighborhood . 16 the company opened its first international store in japan later that same year . 17 ugg partnered with designer shoe brand jimmy choo in 2009 to launch a capsule collection combining the brands styles . 18 the following year ugg debuted a collection of boots designed in collaboration with swarovski . the company launched its first men s advertising campaign in 2011 featuring new england patriots quarterback tom brady in 2011 . 19 the first ugg for men stand alone store opened in new york in 2012 . 20 ugg reported over 1 billion u.s in sales for 2012 . 2 ugg products are manufactured in a number of countries primarily china . 21 deckers continues to source most of its sheepskin from australia . 22 23 its collection of home goods launched in 2013 and included products such as rugs blankets pillows and other home pieces . 24 in june 2015 ugg has announced a collaboration with pixar studio . the lifestyle brand launched a capsule collection reflecting pixar s newest film inside out . 25 in popular culture ugg boots have been a style staple since they first appeared on oprah winfrey s show in her second edition of oprah s favorite things in 2003 15 in which she purchased over 350 shoes for her staff and audience . 26 the boots gained a large celebrity following and were frequently seen on notable people such as kate upton blake lively 27 kate hudson cameron diaz jennifer lopez 28 and sarah jessica parker 15 who also wore them on the hbo series sex and the city as carrie bradshaw . 29 this marketing campaign led to an exponential growth in the brand s popularity and recognizability . 30 in 2013 various vogue editors wrote about wearing an owning ugg boots following testimonials by fashion figures such as alexa chung and andr leon talley who posted about their ugg boots . 27 31 the shoes have also been spotted on celebrities including actor leonardo dicaprio and the rolling stones guitarist ronnie wood . 32 trademark disputes main article ugg boots trademark disputes in 1971 shane steadman registered the trademark ugh boot on the australian trade mark registry and obtained an australian registration for ugh in 1982 . these registrations remained valid in australia until removed for non use in 2006 . steadman sold his ugh brand boots widely in australia throughout the 1970s and 1980s . 33 34 this registration was subsequently sold to ugg holdings inc. in early 1995 . in august 1995 deckers brands purchased ugg holdings and in 1999 registered ugg holdings trademarks including the ugg australia label with sun like device in australia . deckers holds registrations for the ugg trademark in the united states china and over 130 other countries . 35 the validity of the ugg trademark outside of australia has also been challenged but courts have consistently upheld its validity . in 2004 deckers filed a case against koolaburra in the california federal court asserting that their use of ug was trademark infringement . 30 13 koolaburra argued that the ugg trademark was invalid as being generic and obtained by fraud . 30 in february 2005 the court ruled for deckers stating that survey evidence clearly demonstrates that the ugg mark is not generic . there was no evidence that smith acted with an intent to defraud the trademark office and consumers would likely be confused with the similarity in appearance sight and sound between ug and ugg as the parties were marketing in direct competition with identical products . however the court declined to rule on the validity of deckers australian trademark registrations in the context of the u.s. case . 30 other ugg trademark disputes have occurred with companies including luda production pty 36 37 and emu australia 38 39 40 as well as local manufacturers in countries such as turkey and china . 35 35 in august 2016 the australian federal senator nick xenophon called for international protection of the australian footwear term ugg 41 counterfeiting with increasing popularity deckers ugg products became a popular target for counterfeiters as they are inexpensive to make have a relatively high sale price and are rarely discounted . according to deckers brand protection unit in 2009 it took down 2 500 fake websites 20 000 ebay listings and 150 000 other online auction listings with 60 000 pairs of counterfeit ugg footwear confiscated by customs agents . 42 law enforcement officials in great britain the u.s. and china have reported seizures of counterfeit ugg brand boots . 43 44 45 in 2009 us customs agents confiscated 60 000 pairs of fake ugg boots and the company took action against 2500 websites that were selling fraudulent products as well as some 170 000 listings on ebay craigslist and similar sites . 46 47 the national arbitration forum which has been appointed by icann to resolve most internet domain name disputes has used deckers brands ownership of the ugg trademark in the united states as part of several decisions to direct internet domains containing ugg to be transferred to deckers . 48 49 50 51 52 53 concern for animals since ugg boots are one of many clothing products made from animal skin the production of ugg boots has been the subject of criticism by the animal liberation movement . 54 in the decade beginning in 2000 the group who called for the boycott of ugg boots and their replacement with alternatives not made from animal skin . in 2007 pamela anderson realizing that ugg boots were made of sheepskin wrote on her website that she does not support the brand any longer . 55 in february 2008 the princeton animal welfare society staged a campus protest against the fur industry particularly attacking the sheepskin industry . students lay in the newly fallen snow on the frist campus center s north front lawn on friday afternoon feigning death wearing coats covered with fake blood and sporting signs that read what if you were killed for your coat 56 see also bearpaw footwear emu australia references update 1 deckers cuts full year forecast as demand for ugg shoes slows . reuters . january 29 2015 . retrieved april 29 2015 . a b c sutherland & tara lachapelle brooke november 26 2012 . uggs in play with deckers seen luring buyers real m & a . bloomberg.com . retrieved february 23 2013 . wittig stacey january 3 2011 . footwear innovators building global lifestyle brands from flagstaff . flagstaff business news . retrieved april 13 2012 . a b brian smith 2014 . the birth of a brand . grant lorrie december 10 2003 . ugg australia boots a fashion kick . usa today . retrieved august 25 2010 . stimpert desiree . everything you ever wanted to know about ugg boots . about.com . retrieved august 25 2010 . abkowitz alyssa august 19 2009 . deckers finds its footing with uggs . fortune magazine . retrieved august 25 2010 . deckers outdoor completes acquisition of ugg holdings press release . business wire . retrieved august 25 2010 . kate abnett december 10 2014 . how ugg turned a fashion trend into a staple . business of fashion . retrieved april 29 2015 . kim bhasin 16 august 2014 . ugg is sick of being pigeonholed for its boots . huffington post . retrieved 28 may 2015 . a b tara johnson 2 april 2015 . how ugg founder brian smith turned a 500 loan into billion dollar brand . cpc strategy . retrieved 28 may 2015 . higgins pamm october 2001 . booty call . los angeles magazine 46 10 75 . a b behind the brand the golden fleece wall street journal september 9 2010 . a b julie neigher 20 december 2009 . it looks like ugg love . los angeles times . retrieved 28 may 2015 . a b c lorrie grant 10 december 2003 . ugg boots a fashion kick . usa today . retrieved 28 may 2015 . samantha critchell 24 october 2013 . an ode to ugg the boot with staying power . the seattle times . retrieved 28 may 2015 . martin webb 21 february 2006 . party round up chloe maison martin margiela bernhard willhelm alexander lee chang ... . the japan times . retrieved 28 may 2015 . elena andreou 16 september 2010 . ugg australia and jimmy choo collaboration . instyle uk . retrieved 28 may 2015 . aditi kinkhabwala 12 september 2011 . unlikely pair ugg and tom brady