UGG x AMBUSH Collaboration: Mary Jane, Loafers, Fur Heel & Woven Boot

In the fashion industry, it is not uncommon for brands to collaborate with each other and launch product lines. For instance, the collaboration between UGG and AMBUSH is a bold innovation in the fashion field, successfully blending classic and avant-garde.

UGG, a footwear brand renowned for its comfort, has teamed up with AMBUSH, a Japanese brand famous for its unique designs, to reinterpret the two classic shoe styles, Mary Jane and Loafers, in line with the concept of integrating comfort into daily life.

This article will explore the two brands UGG and AMBUSH, as well as the product lines launched in collaboration and the significance of the collaboration.

 

What is UGG?

UGG usually refers to the footwear, clothing and accessory brand under Deckers Outdoor Corporation of the United States. Its core product is the all-season product line including sheepskin snow boots, and it also covers slippers, casual shoes, clothing, bags, etc.

The name “UGG” is derived from the general term “Ugly Boots” for Australian wool boots. This was an American footwear and clothing brand founded by Australian surfer Brian Smith in 1978, bringing traditional Australian sheepskin boots to Southern California, USA. Initially, it was only sold to the surfing community.

The signature material of this brand is Grade A sheepskin, with the wool side facing inwards, providing comfort and warmth, and the suede side facing outwards. This material and structure are the key to the “UGG experience”, which the brand describes as a unique and luxurious comfort that “feels unparalleled”.

Brand origin and history

• Origin: UGG was originally a general term for Australian woolen Boots, meaning “Ugly Boots”. During World War I, Australian pilots made boots out of sheepskin to keep warm, which gradually became popular.
• American Development: In 1978, Australian surfer Brian Smith introduced UGG boots to the United States and sold them in the California surfing community. In 1995, Dex Company acquired the UGG brand and quickly rose to fame through promotion by Hollywood stars (such as giving away 300 pairs of boots on the Oprah Winfrey Show), becoming a globally renowned luxury brand.

 

Trademark dispute

• Australia: The court has determined that UGG is a generic name for goods and allows domestic brands to use it.
• In the United States, China and other places: Courts have recognized the exclusive right to use the UGG trademark. Dex Company has registered trademarks in over 100 countries around the world and is cracking down on counterfeiting.

 

Key development milestones of UGG

• In 1995, Deckers Outdoor Products Co., Ltd. acquired the UGG brand and promoted its popularity in the US market through the effect of Hollywood stars.
• In 2008, UGG officially entered the Chinese market, and the Blue Harbour store in Beijing became the first specialty store in Chinese mainland.
• In 2009, the sales of winter snow boots soared by 900%, making it a globally renowned footwear brand.
• In 2023, UGG accelerated its expansion in the Chinese market, opening 55 stores in a single quarter. Currently, the total number of stores across the country is nearly 300.

 

Brand positioning and product features

Positioning: A high-end lifestyle brand, with the core concept of “combining comfort and fashion”, and its price range covers mid-to-high-end (for example, classic snow boots are priced at approximately 1,000 to 2,000 RMB).

 

Product features

• Material: Made of Australian wool and carefully selected cowhide, the soles are mostly EVA or TPR materials, balancing lightness and wear resistance.
• Design: From classic flat snow boots to high heels, pendants, fleece styles and other fashionable designs, the colors are rich.
• Functions: Water-repellent, replaceable insoles, suitable for all seasons (such as summer plush slippers).

 

What is AMBUSH?

AMBUSH is a tokyo-based fashion brand known for its bold, unisex designs that blend streetwear and haute couture. It has gained a huge influence in the global streetwear field and has collaborated with major brands such as UGG.

 

Brand development history

• Start-up period: Relying on the popularity of VERBAL and YOON’s design talent, it quickly attracted the favor of stars such as Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, and Rihanna, and gained popularity.
• Growth period: Shortlisted for the LVMH Prize in 2017 and acquired by FARFETCH’s New Guards Group in 2020, further consolidating its position in the fashion industry.
• Maturity stage: In recent years, it has collaborated with international brands such as Nike and Louis Vuitton, integrating their classic elements and infusing new creativity to bring consumers a refreshing fashion experience.

 

The evolution of a brand

• In 2008: Started as a jewelry brand
• In 2015: Venturing into ready-to-wear collections, using clothing as the “canvas” to showcase its unique accessories
• In 2016: The first flagship store was opened in Tokyo
• In 2018: Made her debut on the runway at Amazon Fashion Week in Tokyo
• In 2020: The Italian fashion group New Guards group (now owned by the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger) acquired a majority stake in it
• In 2022: Entered the Chinese market with a store in Shanghai and a flagship store on Tmall

 

Brand positioning and style

• Positioning: A mid-to-high-end fashion brand, mainly targeting young consumers who pursue individuality and unique style.
• Style: Renowned for its avant-garde and unique designs, it blends street style with high-end fashion elements. The brand slogan is “ANYTHING GOES”, challenging and redefining the boundaries of fashion.
• Design inspiration: Deeply influenced by street culture and music subculture, it emphasizes freedom, innovation and individuality. YOON Ahn is good at ingeniously integrating traditional and modern, Eastern and Western elements to create works that are both recognizable and fashionable.

 

Brand highlights

• From jewelry to fashion: AMBUSH was originally a jewelry collection inspired by popular art, with designs often drawn from everyday items. This experimental foundation paved the way for its expansion into the full range of clothing and accessories.
• Designer influence: Creative Director Yin An is the core figure behind the brand’s success. Her unique sense of fashion and identity as an “IT Girl” have greatly shaped her status. Since 2018, she has served as a men’s jewelry designer for Dior, further enhancing the brand’s popularity.
• Highly anticipated collaborations: AMBUSH is renowned for its extensive partnerships with luxury and streetwear giants, including Nike, Louis vuitton, Dior, Cartier, uniqlo and UGG.

 

Product series

• Core products: Initially focused on creative jewelry design, such as exaggerated and unique shapes, bold colors and innovative materials (such as enlarged pins, diamond rings, leather necklaces, etc.).
• Diversified expansion: As the brand’s influence expands, the product line is gradually extended to areas such as clothing, footwear, and accessories, forming a complete and diversified product system. The clothing design emphasizes presenting a unique personality in simplicity and elegance, often using metal accessories such as perforated elements, chains, and steel nails to create a rebellious spirit on the street.

UGG x AMBUSH Collaboration

The collaboration between UGG and AMBUSH is a highly anticipated cross-industry partnership in the fashion world in 2025. It perfectly blends UGG’s classic and comfortable style with AMBUSH ‘s avant-garde Tokyo street aesthetics, launching a footwear collection that combines practicality and trendiness, successfully capturing the attention of Gen Z consumers.

 

What is the collaboration between UGG and AMBUSH?

Involving brands

• UGG: An American lifestyle and footwear brand, renowned for its sheepskin boots and comfortable fabrics.
• AMBUSH: A tokyo-based fashion brand founded by designer Yoon Ahn, known for bold and experimental streetwear and jewelry.

 

Creative vision

This collaboration was driven by Yoon Ahn, who incorporated her unique design language into the classic silhouette of UGG, building a bridge between the comfort of UGG and the avant-garde aesthetics of AMBUSH.

For the AW25 (Autumn/Winter 2025) capsule, Yoon described this line as “a love letter to Shibuya”, referring to the Tokyo community and its influence on her.

She also mentioned her personal memories: “The boots and shoes I often saw when I first moved to Shibuya have always remained in my mind.”

 

Why is this kind of cooperation effective?

UGG + AMBUSH = perfect contrast and complementarity:

• UGG brings: signature comfort, premium sheepskin craftsmanship, and global recognition
• AMBUSH brings: fearless experiments, the fringes of streetwear, and the rebellious youth culture of Tokyo

 

Design concept synergy

Both of these brands are committed to reinventing classics while maintaining the authenticity of their roots. Yoon Ahn described it as “injecting unexpected luxury into daily comfort”.

 

The influence of culture

This collaboration is described as “a dialogue between California comfort and Tokyo coolness”.

This partnership solidifies AMBUSH ‘s position as a bridge between streetwear and high fashion.

For UGG, this indicates that the brand is willing to go beyond the traditional image of boots.

 

Spring/Summer 2025 collaboration collection

1. Series Overview

Release date: Officially released on February 14, 2025, and officially available for sale on February 21.

Core products: Reinterpreted two classic shoe styles, Mary Jane shoes and Loafers.

Design features: UGG ‘s signature soft sheepskin is combined with AMBUSH’ s unique metal and leather details to create a new sweet and cool style item.

Color selection

• Mary Jane shoes: Available in pink and white.
• Loafers: Available in Burgundy and black.

2. Design highlights

• Material innovation: UGG ‘s signature premium sheepskin blends perfectly with the metallic decorative details of AMBUSH, maintaining comfort while adding a touch of avant-garde.
• Details design: The upper of the Mary Jane shoe is made of furry material and decorated with AMBUSH ‘s signature silver heart-shaped metal clasp, presenting a sweet yet cool style.
• Wearing experience: The Loafers feature a one-foot design, combined with exaggerated briquettes and a metallic texture, making them suitable for both casual occasions and formal looks.
• Hidden Easter egg: The insole IS printed with the co-branded Logo of both sides, and the soles are engraved with the slogan “WEIRD IS GOOD” (weird is truth), embodying the design philosophy of AMBUSH.

 

3. Market response

• Star effect: Blackpink member Jennie has frequently worn Mary Jane shoes from this series in casual street snaps, sparking heated discussions among fans. Netizens have joked that “UGG peeked at Jennie’s wardrobe.”
• Social media popularity: The TikTok topic #UGGAMBUSHChallenge has surpassed 10 million views. Bloggers have mixed the collaborative shoes with millennial low-rise pants and cut-out net socks, creating a retro resonance of “UGG in 1990, me in 2025“.
• Gender-neutral fashion: The “pink shoes and tough guy” look worn by boys on Xiaohongshu has become a traffic code, successfully breaking the boundaries of gender-neutral fashion.
• Sales situation: The series is globally limited to 3,000 pairs. The official website’s preview page crashed the server, and the reselling price on the external network has been driven up to three times the release price.

 

Autumn/Winter 2025 collaboration collection

1. Series Overview

• Release date: Officially released on September 12, 2025
• Core products: It includes five brand-new shoes, all equipped with thick-soled and high-heeled designs
• Design inspiration: Inspired by the street culture of Shibuya, Tokyo, it is a “love letter” written by YOON, creative director of AMBUSH to shibuya.
• Material innovation: UGG’s signature wool and leather materials have been reinterpreted, incorporating avant-garde elements such as waterproof nylon and semi-transparent PVC.

 

2. Product highlights

• UGG AMBUSH Heel: priced at $650, with plush covering the entire upper, it becomes the most visually striking style.
• UGG AMBUSH Woven Boot: Modified on the classic UGG silhouette, with a sense of thickness, using top-grain cowhide, luxurious sheepskin and soft matte leather materials.
• Color scheme: From understated black and gray to highly saturated neon green, cherry blossom pink and metallic silver, it echoes the atmosphere of Tokyo’s night view.
• Applicable scenarios: It can be paired with mini skirts or long skirts, or combined with loose cargo pants to showcase unique styles with different personalities.

Product series

• UGG x AMBUSH Mary Jane: A Mary Jane silhouette covered in sheepskin, with a heart-shaped buckle detail — very playful yet luxurious.
• UGG x AMBUSH Fur Boot (Black): A boot that leans into UGG’s cozy DNA but with a bold, high-fashion twist.
• UGG x AMBUSH Woven Boot (Chestnut): Uses woven leather, sheepskin, and nubuck — a textural, premium reinterpretation of a boot.
• UGG x AMBUSH Fur Heel (White/Pink): A dramatic high heel wrapped in sheepskin — very sculptural and unexpected for UGG.
• UGG x AMBUSH Heel Boot (Brown): Combines the boot form with a high heel, mixing rugged and refined.

 

3. Market strategy

• Hunger marketing: Limited global release to enhance scarcity
• Environmental controversy: The founder Yoon emphasized the use of plant-tanned leather, but the carbon footprint of mass production of metal parts was questioned, which instead increased the topic’s popularity.
• Industry impact: The WGSN report indicates that “conflict aesthetics” will become a key word for the Spring/Summer 2025 season. UGG’s breakthrough this time may trigger a wave of collaborations among outdoor brands.

 

A quick overview of the key releases:

Collection	Key Styles & Designs	Featured Materials & Details	Inspiration & Aesthetics
2025 S/S	Mary Janes, Loafers	Sheepskin, leather, metal heart-shaped buckle	Classic styles reimagined with a playful and trendy twist
2025 F/W	Platform boots, heels, and boots with exaggerated volumes	Sheepskin, leather, nubuck, transparent PVC, waterproof nylon	Tokyo’s Y2K street culture, Shibuya style, bold and futuristic

 

The background and cultural significance of cooperation

1. Creative Director’s perspective

• YOON’s vision: “I hope that through this collaboration, comfort can be integrated into daily life.” Personally, I really like Mary Jane shoes and Loafer shoes, so I want to create more comfortable designs together with UGG. These shoe styles are highly versatile and can handle a wide range of looks from casual to formal occasions.
• Tokyo Sentiment: “When I first arrived in Shibuya, the shoes and boots I often saw still leave a deep impression on me. This series is a love letter I wrote to this neighborhood.”

 

2. Advertising campaign creativity

• Spring/Summer Series: Through immersive advertising campaigns, it presents the wonderful campus performances, capturing the entire process from rehearsals, daily life to the official shows, showcasing the hazy emotions and clumsy yet beautiful moments of adolescence.
• Autumn/Winter Collection: Starring Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, he walks into a bowling alley with his friends wearing co-branded boots and confronts girls in co-branded high heels, recreating the street culture of Tokyo in the millennium.

 

3. Cultural value

• Contradictory Aesthetics: UGG’s transformation from snow boots to catwalk shows proves that “the most rustic is trendy”. The collaborative collection combats aesthetic fatigue with a sweet yet cool design.
• AMBUSH philosophy: The slogan”Normal is boring” runs through the design, encouraging Generation Z to express their individuality through dressing and reject mediocrity.
• Gen Z Resonance: This collaborative shoe is not merely a pair of shoes; it is a declaration of attitude – breaking conventions with conflict aesthetics and making the sweet and cool style the social currency of Gen Z.

 

Purchase channels and prices

• Purchase channels: Available at UGG.com, AMBUSH DESIGN.com, UGG select stores, AMBUSH® retail stores and selected retailers.
• Price range: Mary Jane shoes and loafers are priced between $800 and $1,200, while high-heeled boots are even more expensive.
• Special note: The white high-heeled boots in the autumn and winter collection are priced as high as 9,495 yuan on high-end e-commerce platforms such as Farfetch.

 

Market response and consumer evaluation

• Market response: This collaborative series has received widespread attention since its launch, and the limited release method has further stimulated consumers’ purchasing desire.
• Consumer review: Consumers generally believe that this collaboration series not only retains the comfort of UGG but also incorporates avant-garde design elements of AMBUSH, making the shoes suitable for daily wear as well as meeting the needs of fashionable matching.

 

The significance and impact of cooperation

• Brand enhancement: This collaboration is of great significance to both UGG and AMBUSH brands. UGG, through its collaboration with AMBUSH, successfully broke the traditional image and demonstrated the brand ‘s innovative ability and fashionable attitude; AMBUSH, with the help of UGG ‘s global influence, has further expanded its brand awareness.
• Industry impact: This collaboration series also brings new inspirations to the fashion industry, that is, the cooperation between traditional brands and emerging designer brands can create more possibilities and meet consumers’ increasingly diverse demands.

 

Conclusion

The collaboration between UGG and AMBUSH is not merely a simple brand partnership. It is a perfect collision of traditional comfort and avant-garde trend, successfully elevating UGG ‘s classic image to a new height and also enabling AMBUSH’ s design concept to reach a wider audience. This attempt at “conflict aesthetics” precisely aligns with the current Generation Z’s pursuit of individual expression and unconventional consumption psychology, and has become one of the most successful cross-border collaborations in 2025.

If you are running your own bag business or want to add a new bag product line, welcome to contact Ginoar and explore more possibilities together.