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When Karl Lagerfeld once said, "Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life, so you bought sweatpants," I always figured the "... and UGGs" part was silent because the fashion industry has never been welcoming of 'comfort couture' outside of one's lounge.
Well not until the sports luxe trend hit the scene in a major way circa 2013, making leggings, sweatpants and kicks global 'It' items. And then Balenciaga re-upped Crocs, Solange made us want Birks, and Salomon trainers became acceptable to wear in other places besides the hiking trail - all cementing the Pretty-Ugly shoe's top position in today's global trends lists.
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So the sartorial evolution of UGGs was bound to have its moment at some point before 2020.
UGG boots have never been ugly per se, but they have never been a classic and comfortable style staple like Converse All Stars, for example, either. They were more like the frumpily styled character in a coming-of-age teen movie - cringe, but not worth any further comment than... well, "cringe".
But this American footwear company has been gradually reinventing its aesthetic from their signature classic sheepskin and suede boots to more on-trend styles including slides and sneakers.
And that would explain their most recent collaboration debuted at New York Fashion Week earlier this month with innovative American fashion label Eckhaus Latta co-founded by Zoe Latta and Mike Eckhaus.
This brand, which is still in its infancy, is known for often traveling the road less traveled, offering unlikely collaborations, embracing diversity and intersectionality before other labels caught on, had a pregnant model walk the runway before Savage x Fenty, and even a 2017 ad campaign featuring models having real sex.
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This time, their game-changer is a slightly more family-friendly and oh-so-70s.
With a diverse slouch of models such including Paloma Elesser and Andrea Thomas walking the runway at Eckhaus Latta's Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2019-2020 show, we saw Eckhaus Latta x UGG shoes that were just as intriguing.
Image: Getty
Mike and Zoe told The Cut they were approached by Uggs "to do the project this summer, but I think it came out of them seeing our Whitney exhibition."
"I think it’s also because we’re bicoastal and work often out of Los Angeles — they’re based in Santa Barbara — and they were really excited to work with a brand that had roots on the West Coast as well. It spoke to their language of 'California heritage,'"Mike added.
One of the high-heeled mules was inspired by "a past Ugg heel that [they resurrected from 2007. We[They] reworked the whole upper, though, as they didn’t "just want to make a shoe that just looks great; they’re really quite comfortable," Mike and Zoe explained.
Knowing the see-now, buy-now culture fashion Week has inspired over recent years, soon street style faves will spotted wearing these Ugg heels.
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