Dive Brief:
- Ugg has launched an all-gender collection focused on sustainability, the company announced Thursday in a news release.
- Called Regenerate by Ugg, the capsule collection features five footwear designs available in the U.S. made with “materials from land cared for with regenerative traditions,” per the release. Prices range from $220 for a unisex boot to $90 for a children’s slipper. Additional styles are available internationally, including a full-length shearling coat.
- In 2022, Ugg launched its first regenerative design, a Classic Mini Regenerate boot model, and partnered with Savory Institute to support regenerative farming practices on sheep farms in Australia.
Dive Insight:
Both Ugg and parent company Deckers Brands have made previous pledges to support larger sustainability efforts, with Deckers reporting on its environmental and social impacts since 2014.
“The fashion industry and its supply chains are intrinsically linked to agriculture through raw materials resulting in consumer products, often created through destructive farming practices,” Ugg stated in its release. “Regenerative agriculture ensures that farming is conducted in harmony with nature to help restore soil, encourage wildlife diversity, capture carbon in the ground, and preserve the land for future generations.”
Footwear in the Regenerative features details including sheepskin sourced from ranches that practice regenerative agriculture and outsoles made from renewable sugarcane, although not every detail is featured in every item. The collection is available on Ugg’s website, in Ugg stores and through select wholesale partners.
The regenerative collection will also partner with “creators, activists and changemakers in the regenerative community” to help launch the new line, including Marina Testino, a Parsons Fashion Marketing graduate who works as a brand strategist in sustainable fashion and conscious consumerism spaces. Testino has previously consulted with Greenpeace, United Nations and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Other Ugg brand partners include Jesse Smith, the director of land stewardship for the nonprofit White Buffalo Land Trust; María Bernad, a Spanish-born, Paris-based fashion influencer and stylist; Jerome Foster II, an environmental justice activist who cofounded the youth activism organization Waic Up, where he serves as co-executive director; and New York City-based Zaya Guarani, an Indigenous Brazilian activist who cofounded the first Indigenous Creative Collective and works with the United Nations Spotlight Program.
Ugg has committed to “help restore one million acres of grassland into regenerative farmland” by 2025, and has so far contributed to the restoration of 310,000 acres, per the release. As part of its five-year commitment with Savory, the brand stated that it also “hopes to leave a legacy of transformation on the Australian sheepskin industry” through its work to help farms establish more regenerative practices.
In 2021, Ugg established a refurbishment program in the U.S. that would allow customers to refurbish or clean their worn Ugg footwear rather than discard it. Previously, the brand has stated that by 2027, it plans to replace 100% of its faux fur with “plant-based, bio-based or recycled synthetic materials.”
The Ugg brand has more than $1.5 billion in annual sales, per the release, and has stores in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, London, Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing. First quarter earnings for Deckers, reported in July, increased 10% year over year to $675.8 million, although Ugg saw sales decline for the period. Deckers also owns Hoka, Teva and Sanuk.
