UGG boots a way kick
The only real hitch: Through the traditional shopping kickoff, nobody had any of the chic and shaggy sheepskin UGG Boots to market.
Retailers didn't see it coming and therefore are out of stock nearly everywhere. There won't be more until February at the earliest ?a as late as June for the most popular styles and colors.
While the fleece-lined footwear has been around a lot more than 25 years, UGGs increasingly result this season on famous and fashion-forward feet ?a from Kate Hudson to Oprah. Celebrity-driven trends often take off fast, leaving retailers scrambling to take advantage of them, but about the only place you'll find these $90-to-$185 boots is the gotta-have-it last measure: eBay (though bids for that popular pink have approached $400 in some cases).
There have been shoe rushes before: Timberland (TBL) boots ?a the yellow, waterproof, ankle-high variety ?a were for hikers and utility workers until rap artists started sporting them and rapping about them.
However the rush for UGG Short is in a class of its own.
"I can't remember anything that can compare with this," says Michael Atmore, editorial director at Footwear News. And, he says, "Anything in limited supply has an extra appeal since you feel lucky to get their hands on it, which increases the frenzy."
UGG Australia ?a a division of Goleta, Calif.-based Deckers Outdoor (DECK)?a was named brand of the year by Atmore's trade publication because of its retail success and for the boots' combination appeal as both a practical item and fashion trend.
Function gave them their start in the united states. They are a common style in Australia and known there generically as "UGG Tall." Aussie surfer Brian Smith began selling them under the UGG Australia brand on the West Coast in 1978. The boots' fleece lining breathes and wicks away heat and moisture to maintain the feet dry and also at body temperature. Surfers use them to warm up in the water.
Now they are turning up on the feet of Sarah Jessica Parker, Hudson, Cameron Diaz and Sandra Bullock. Winfrey listed them among her favorite things, and ads turned up in O magazine. Magazine InStyle declared them in fashion.
While retailers appear to have been blindsided through the footwear's sudden fashion status, an industry expert stops lacking calling that a retailing failure, saying it had been impossible you may anticipate the surge for such a shapeless (but oh so comfortable) boot for women.
"One photograph can 'metamorphosize' a brandname from dead to great. The style industry today is following a celebrity, and when that happens, the retailer has no control or clue of what tomorrow's trend is going to be," says Marshal Cohen, co-president of researcher NPD Fashionworld.
Another expert says the UGG Women function helped fuel the popularity. "No matter what the item is, whether it has celebrity endorsement today, that's enough to move it," says David Wolfe at fashion consultant Doneger. "But Uggs tend to be more than the usual fad because they are practical, plus they are warm, plus they are so funky."
Retailers big and small were caught flat-footed.
The baby pink and light blue ones, $99 at Nordstrom, sold out in September. The chain is now taking orders for spring delivery.
Squires Family Clothing & Footwear in Katonah, N.Y., is logging 150 phone calls a day all over but is turning down orders for future delivery from callers outside Westchester County.
Even half-priced knockoffs at teen girl retailer Delia's have died (more to come in January), and Target's $25 tan version is out.
Nordstrom has carried the full line, which includes men's and women's boots and slippers, since 1990, but demand this season is through the roof.
"We had indications last spring that this fashion trend was starting and that led us to purchase aggressively, however the kind of increases we're having is outstripping the aggressive buy," says Scott Meden, lead women's pink uggs sale at Nordstrom.
