LUDA FISHMAN \ FOUNDER OF UGG AUSTRALIA

The Ugg boot has graced the feet of everyone from Jennifer Lopez to The Duchess of Cambridge and from rustic beginnings, has reached international iconic status. Here we meet Luda Fishman, one half of the powerhouse couple behind this quintessential Australian brand. This Australian business success story is a far cry from where it all began, yet passion and sheer hard work have been the guiding principles of an incredibly driven couple.

Luda “You need to always believe in yourself, you need to create and create, never stop. Right now, we know that our Ugg boots are popular, but we don’t stop innovating. We are constantly creating new designs and not only using sheepskin, we are also working with Australian calf, goat and deer skin, they’re all gorgeous.”

Luda met Roman when she was 17 years old. By 18, they were married and by her 27th birthday, they had left their home in the Ukraine for Australia.

Luda “We just clicked, but we weren’t allowed to get married straight away, my parents had conditions – pass exams to go to university, then we could get married. I did and we married the following year.”

Roman was trained by Luda’s father as a master craftsman working in fur. He started his first business in the Ukraine, creating hats, jackets and gloves. Luda in turn, graduated with a masters degree in Chemical Industrial Engineering, then worked at minimum wage for five years before realising there was no way to progress financially in the Soviet Union. Roman had relatives in Australia and with an opportunity to start a new life, they gathered up their two small children, an overlocker and a sewing machine, then made the brave move.

Luda “We arrived in Sydney in 1979 where I started studying English and Roman worked hard from day one, as a packer. It was Roman’s idea to start making Ugg boots and founded the business Ugg Australia.”

Luda and Roman came across their first pair of Ugg boots at Victoria market in 1980 and although the origins were attributed to differing sources, it was believed that this boot had been around since the 1960s. One story was traced to hippies, who, relishing the basics, began wrapping their feet in rough-stitched sheepskin. They named their new footwear Ugg boots, ugly boots.

Luda “I believe this story, when I first saw these boots, they were so ugly, I couldn’t even look at them, but Roman was excited, he immediately saw the opportunity to use his skills to develop this product. He said, ‘I’m going to make these Ugg boots because nobody needs hats or jackets here in Australia. But I won’t make them ugly, my Ugg boots will be beautiful’.”

With Roman labouring and Luda now working in a cafe, they raised enough money to buy their first sheepskins.

Luda “Nobody wanted to sell to us because we only had $60, enough money for just three skins. The minimum orders were much higher and no one was interested. That is, until we entered a huge family run company called Mile Tannery. The owner spent over an hour with us explaining which skins we’d need to create Ugg boots. I apologised for having just $60 and he said ‘You know, small fish can become big fish one day’ and sold us our first sheepskins.”

The skins were enough to make three pairs of Ugg boots and it was these very first boots that created noise, literally.

Luda “Roman made the boots at home in our second floor apartment. His sewing wasn’t so noisy, but when he put the soles on, it was a bit of a problem because he needed to use the hammer. I actually got calls from my neighbour downstairs, she asked me, ‘What are you hammering about?’ I told her that I was making schnitzel.”

Luda took these first three pairs of Ugg boots to market.

Luda “I sold those boots at Victoria market, I think on the second day and it was a fantastic feeling, we used the money to go and buy more skins.”

In addition to making Ugg boots, Roman was working for Sleep Master, a quilting company. Luda’s enterprising ideas and Roman’s skills, had the couple making and selling cushions created from factory offcuts. They eventually bought a factory of their own, creating Ugg boots and a product range for the Sleep Master brand.

Luda “I made an extra $2000 that year from selling at the market and opened a small factory. We then decided to make bedding for Sleep Master and used the $2000 for a purpose built machine designed by Roman.”

Within two years, Luda and Roman employed 49 people, creating both bedding and Ugg boots. Luda now worked five days with her husband at the factory and weekends at the market, all whilst raising her family. However, just as plans for expansion were put in place, the bedding market collapsed forcing closure of the factory.

Luda “That was a real blow, but we continued selling our Ugg boots at Victoria market and after picking up another market stall, we started gaining traction. We rented more factory space and re-employed our staff. I was very successful at the markets because the Ugg boots that Roman created were indeed beautifully designed and exquisitely made.”

The business flourished with a major uptake from the international tourist trade, in particular with visitors from Japan. Luda and Roman capitalised on their market opportunity and contacting a distributor, secured Ugg Australia’s first international order.

Luda “The Japanese loved the quality of our product, super soft skins, hand-stitched finishing. Despite the initial language barrier, as soon as the client saw the range, there was no barrier at all.”

The company grew from strength to strength and today distributes all over the country. With this continued rise in popularity has come a flood of competitors, along with confusion about which Ugg boots are genuinely made in Australia.

Luda “I like competition, it’s fair, it generates ideas and brings movement to the brain. However, there is a great quality difference between product, there’s nothing like the genuine sheepskin boot. We are working to create the right identity for Ugg boots, Australian product, Australian made and created from Australian skins. My dream for the future is to see the company continue to grow and offer greater employment opportunities here in Australia. My dream for the future is for all Australians to understand what the real Ugg Australia means in terms of Australian quality and Australian made.”