Boot UGG Australia." In 1995, Ugg Holdings purchased Stedman's various trademarks. As for the ugg name, Smith stated: "We always called them uggs, long before it was trademarked." Shoe manufacturer Hide & Feet in Newquay, England began manufacturing sheepskin boots in 1973, and in 1990 Nick Whitworth and his wife Kath bought the business and registered "UGG" as a trade mark in the UK. Due to increasing popularity and sales, in 1991 the company changed its name to "The Original Ugg Co." In 1999, Whitworth sold the company name and the British UGG trade mark to Deckers Outdoor Corporation, renaming his company the Celtic Sheepskin Company. By 1994, UGG boots had grown in status among surfers in California with 80% of sales in southern Orange County where Ugg Holdings saw an increase in sales of 60 percent on the previous season. Smith's UGG boots gained international exposure when they were worn by the United States Olympic team in Lillehammer for the 1994 Winter Olympics. Australian manufacturers also saw an increase in exports of sheepskin boots to the United States, although Ugg Holdings retained an estimated 80% market share. By the end of the year, Country Leather had opened its own shop in Redondo Beach to promote an expansion of the brand from its established surf market into mainstream footwear sales and Ugg Holdings began sourcing UGG boots directly from Jackson's Tannery, which had changed its name to EMU Australia. In early 1995, Smith promoted the UGG AUSTRALIA brand on the Rush Limbaugh show, which spurred sales while the brand gained further exposure when the San Diego Chargers started wearing them. According to retailers, it was not just the footwear that attracted consumers, but the "made in Australia" tie-in as the boots were a unique product only available from Australia and Australian products were at that time very popular. In August 1995, Smith sold Ugg Holdings to Deckers Outdoor Corporation for $14.6 million. In 1996 Deckers registered the various trademarks for "UGG" in the U.S. Australian ugg boots are not considered fashionable in their countries of origin and are worn for warmth and comfort. Ugg boots in Australia are worn predominantly as slippers and associated with daggy fashion sense, bogan behaviour and the outer suburbs when worn in public. According to Australian fashion stylist Justin Craig: "The only people who get away with wearing them are models, who give out the