UGG boots a fashion kick

Just when it seemed the vacation shopping season would be devoid of a must-have item ?a the type that builds shopping enthusiasm and drives retail traffic ?a along came UGG Australia boots for women.

The only real hitch: By the traditional shopping kickoff, nobody had the chic and shaggy sheepskin boots to sell.

Retailers didn't see it coming and therefore UGG Boots are sold out nearly everywhere. There won't be more until February at the earliest ?a as late as June which are more popular colors and styles.

As the fleece-lined footwear has been around a lot more than Two-and-a-half decades, UGGs increasingly result this season on famous and fashion-forward feet ?a from Kate Hudson to Oprah Winfrey. Celebrity-driven trends often remove fast, leaving retailers scrambling to take advantage of them, but concerning the only place you'll find these $90-to-$185 boots may be the gotta-have-it last measure: eBay (though bids for that popular pink have approached $400 in some cases).

There has 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.

But the rush for UGGs is in a category of its own.

"I can't remember anything that can compare with this," says Michael Atmore, editorial director at Footwear News. And, he admits that, "Anything in limited supply has an extra appeal because you feel lucky to obtain your 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 functional item and fashion trend.

Function gave them their start in the united states. They're a typical style around australia and known there generically as "pink uggs sale." Aussie surfer Brian Smith began selling them underneath the UGG Australia brand about the West Coast in 1978. The boots' fleece lining breathes and wicks away moisture and heat to maintain feet dry and also at body's temperature. Surfers put them on to warm up from the water.

Description of how the 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 showed up in O magazine. Magazine InStyle declared them in style.

While retailers seem to have been blindsided by the footwear's sudden fashion status, an industry expert stops lacking calling that the retailing failure, saying it had been impossible to anticipate the surge for such a shapeless (but oh so comfortable) boot for women.

"One photograph can 'metamorphosize' a brand from dead to great. The fashion industry today is following the celebrity, and when that happens, the retailer has no control or clue of what tomorrow's trend will be," says Marshal Cohen, co-president of researcher NPD Fashionworld.

Another expert says the boot's function helped fuel the popularity. "No matter what the item is, if it has celebrity endorsement today, that's enough to maneuver it," says David Wolfe at fashion consultant Doneger. "But Uggs are more than a fad since they're practical, and they are warm, plus they are so funky."

Retailers large and small were caught flat-footed.

The baby pink and baby blue ones, $99 at Nordstrom, out of stock in September. The chain has become taking orders for spring delivery.

Squires Family Clothing & Footwear in Katonah, N.Y., is logging 150 phone calls each day from 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 are gone (more in the future in January), and Target's $25 tan version is out.

Nordstrom has carried the entire line, which includes women's and men's boots and slippers, since 1990, but demand this season is thru the rooftop.

"We had indications last spring this fashion trend was starting which led us to buy aggressively, however the kind of increases we're having is outstripping the aggressive buy," says Scott Meden, lead women's shoe buyer at Nordstrom.

He admits that everyone in the fashionista who has to have the latest turn to a more mainstream customer is originating in for a pair of boots. Hottest are the Ultra and Classic styles, as well as the Sundance, which is one of many celebrity preferences.

"We're likely to go out, and we're doing everything we can to find the bits available because someone has canceled a purchase," Meden adds. His next shipment arrives in April. New orders on Nordstrom.com aren't being promised until June.

In fact, a pair of UGG Women are so popular that Nordstrom were built with a traveling display Nov. 22 through Saturday of a collection of custom-trimmed UGGs with decoration by celebrities Lucy Liu, Britney Spears and Anjelica Huston. They're being auctioned to profit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and save-the-oceans effort Oceana.

Unfortunately for retailers, this out-of-nowhere hit is a double-edged sword. Sales momentum is being built by the buzz. However the lead time to make and deliver shoes ?a months longer compared to apparel ?a means that demand can not be met in the near future.

UGG Australia was taken aback, too.

"I was surprised that we out of stock as soon as we did. We usually become unattainable in November and December, but this craziness was so early," says UGG Australia President Connie Rishwain.

The boots continue to be made in Australia, supply of all of the sheepskin, as well as in New Zealand and Asia. UGG now's booking orders for February, March and April delivery, when it usually doesn't handle the next year's orders until July or August.

"By time we out of stock of shoes at the conclusion of September, I couldn't have any more for Christmas," Rishwain says. "Now, we're selling them for spring, which is the first time that we're selling for first- and second-quarter" delivery.