Authenticity Guaranteed

Authenticity Explained

Every item. Every time. Shop at The Next Pair with complete confidence knowing every purchase is 100% Authentic. Our buying team are expert authenticators, and use a rigorous, multi-step verification procedure that includes checkpoints as it pertains to condition, construction, packaging, accessories, and quality assurance.

Additionally, we ONLY source from partners who have authorized distribution rights in their respective regions. We DO NOT tolerate, sell, or engage in counterfeit footwear. We have thousands of amazing, and positive reviews on our website and multiple sales platforms. Rest assured when shopping at The Next Pair, authenticity is guaranteed on every item, every time.

Please note that from time to time there are problems with footwear. It happens, but this is not a sign of a counterfeit or a non-authentic item. Think about this for a moment, most footwear today is still hand glued, or hand stitched. It is exposed to the extreme weather conditions from the time of manufacture as it moves through the multitude of warehouses, shipping containers, and vessels. It’s likely that your purchased pair has shuffled, been squashed and endured some difficult conditions during transit before it gets to your door. If you do encounter a problem, we’re only a call or email away.

UGG Authenticity

The Word UGG

With winter fast approaching in Australia, there remains some confusion about the iconic product that are globally known as UGG boots – namely, who makes them, are they all the same, and why are there so many different stores and websites selling them?

Think of it like this: UGG in Australia is a generic word for a sheepskin boot. The word UGG actually appears in our Australian dictionary, and it refers to a sheepskin boot. UGG is therefore just another type of footwear, like sneakers, or sandals. Sneakers of course, are sold by many different companies, and no one exclusively owns the right within Australian to sell sneakers. You could buy them from thousands of stores in Australia. So too are UGG boots, which means there are hundreds of places (including stores and websites) where you can purchase a sheepskin boot, or as they’re known here in Australia, an UGG boot.  Each brand is completely different to the next.

Some UGG boots will last you a lifetime, others will need to be replaced before the winter is out. And perhaps the most confusing part – no matter the quality, price, origins, or company selling them, they’ll all be called UGG boots.

The UGG Battle

So what exactly are Ugg boots? Ugg boots are an iconic Australian innovation, first invented by Aussie surfers in the 1970s. Originally evolving from the phrase ‘Ugly boots’, ‘Ugg boot’ or ‘Ugg’ by definition, is a generic term for a sheepskin boot. Whilst Uggs may come in all different shapes and sizes, all genuine Ugg boots should be crafted from Australian sheepskin.

In Australia, it is not possible to own or trademark the term Ugg. After all, Ugg boots are not a brand, but a product for which no single company has the exclusive rights to produce. In other words, the word Ugg (and derivatives such as Uggs, Ughs, and Ugg Boots) is ineligible for trademark protection in Australia. For this reason, there are many different versions of Ugg boots available in Australia, each varying in quality, price, and country of origin.

Unfortunately, the freedom to use the term Ugg differs in overseas countries, and the term is owned and trademarked elsewhere – and this has long been a point of contention for Australians and international Ugg lovers around the world. To be specific, in the United States, and more than 130 other countries around the world, the word Ugg is owned and trademarked by an American company known as Deckers Outdoor Corporation (‘Deckers’), who trade as UGG and have previously traded as UGG AUSTRALIA. Whereas Australians believed Ugg was not able to be trademarked, Deckers successfully registered the mark in the US in 1999 (up to 30 years after Ugg boots were first invented in Australia) and despite protests by Australian manufacturers and the Australian Sheepskin Association, the mark has remained in place overseas ever since, holding Australian manufacturers out of marketing, selling and exporting their iconic Australian Ugg boots overseas.

Incidentally, Deckers is a publicly listed American company, with an estimated annual turnover of more than USD $1.8 billion. Deckers manufacture all of their Ugg boots overseas - both in China and elsewhere in Asia, so it's difficult to discern what the connection is between Deckers and Australia.

UGG @ The Next Pair

We’ve selected a handful of UGG brands that we’ve teamed up with. These brands have been chosen as a result of using ethically sourced, A grade premium sheepskin originating from Australia, or are otherwise vegan, created using synthetic materials. Like all the other footwear sold on our site, we don’t sell counterfeit UGGs, and why would we? The “UGG” brand, owned by the US conglomerate Deckers Corporation doesn’t use ethically sourced sheepskin, and you’re getting a mixed bag of fur, which may not even be from sourced from Australia (clearly stated on their product tags and descriptions). Buy from The Next Pair, where we’ve done our homework, and sell brands that only use Premium A Grade Australian sourced sheepskin.