Ugg Boot History

"Ugg boot" was a term used in Australia for many years to describe the style of Sheepskin Boots worn by surfers to keep their feet warm after spending hours in the sea. These surfers, many of them travellers, brought the Ugg boot to Newquay in Cornwall in about 1973. Ever since, ugg boots later renamed to Celt Boots have been made in Newquay.

In Aug 1990 the business was bought by Nick Whitworth, who in 1991 registered the term UGG as a registered UK trademark in the international class 25 division of footwear - No 1,326,567.

For the next 6 years trading continued under the name of The Original Ugg Co and with ever increasing sales the popularity of Ugg spread around the UK, with a decision being made to concentrate on selling via mail order and of course via the web.

In 1994 Brian Smith from the USA company of Ugg Holdings contacted Nick and came over to Newquay to discuss the purchase of the rights to use the term Ugg. Negotiations slowed whilst Ugg Holdings were taken over by Deckers, but finally in 1996 an agreement was reached whereby Deckers licensed the use of Ugg with an option to purchase at a later date.

In the mean time Nick in Newquay changed the company name from The Original Ugg Co to The Celtic Sheepskin Co and changed the wording on the boot label from Ugg to Celt. Almost all of Celtic Sheepskin's huge range of Celt boots are made in Newquay from 100% real sheepskin.

The term ugg is now registered to the Deckers corporation.