3 min read
The ultimate UGG of choice for friendly fall fashionistas is finally here! The long-awaited, first-ever vegan UGG boots have launched in a collaboration between UGG and New York–based clothing label Collina Strada.
UGG Takes a Big Step Forward
The UGG x Collina Strada boots embrace the future of fashion, featuring innovative, animal-free materials made from sugarcane, TENCEL, and recycled polyester microfiber. The launch of this entirely vegan line comes after PETA, peta2, and thousands of our compassionate supporters pressured UGG to stop using shearling and wool stolen from gentle sheep. As we’ve pointed out to the company, workers castrate, mutilate, and violently kill sensitive sheep before they’re stripped of their wool and skin.
This isn’t UGG’s first attempt to keep up with consumers’ demands for sustainable, animal-free clothing. In 2021, the company released Plant Power, a collection made with plant-based materials such as sugar cane and wood pulp. In 2022, UGG’s parent company, Deckers Brands, announced that it would stop using alpaca wool.
Vegan UGG boots are a step in the right direction, but UGG must stop tiptoeing around the larger problem. PETA entities have released multiple exposés of facilities in Australia’s wool industry, documenting abuse on more than 40 farms and in shearing sheds throughout the country. Workers beat, stomped on, kicked, and cut sheep as they sheared them, often leaving them with bloody wounds.
What Is Shearling?
“Shearling” is sheep’s skin with fleece still attached to it. It can take dozens of individual sheep skins to make just one shearling garment.
If You Could Walk a Mile in Their Shoes, Would You?
Sheep take care of each other and can recognize their friends’ faces, even if they haven’t seen each other for years. If threatened, a flock of sheep will run together for a short distance and then turn to face the danger as a group. Like all our fellow animals, sheep can feel pain, love, and fear. They don’t want to be exploited and killed for clothing.
Tell UGG to Give Cruelty the Boot
You can help animals who suffer in the fashion industry by sporting only vegan materials. Check out PETA’s vegan shopping guide for tips on how to dress with compassion. Join us in urging UGG to ditch shearling, wool, and all other animal-derived materials:
