NATIONAL: The parent company of footwear brand Ugg Australia has inked a $5 million deal to sell the brand throughout China. Deckers Outdoor Corporation, which acquired the brand in 1995, has teamed with Taiwan-based shoemaker Stella International to drive sales of the brand in the Chinese market, via newly forged wholesale and retail portals.
The deal will see the Aussie-founded brand sit alongside Stella's other core stable of footwear brands which include Paul Smith, Prada, Hugo Boss, Nine West, Camper and Kenneth Cole.
Deckers, which plans to open one to two stores in China in 2008, said it would own 51 per cent pf the venture with an initial investment of $1 million being paid by each party.
The brand would also be wholesaled through Stella's 100 high-end stores, labelled Stella Luna and What For respectively, and produced at its facilities in the Guangdong Province.
Ugg Australia was initially founded in 1978 by Australian surfer Brian Smith whose idea to sell sheepskin boots to Californian surfers paid big dividends. Since then the line has grown to include high-end luxury boots, shoes and warm-weather footwear.