Brian Smith

Brian Smith

Brian Smith is the founder of UGG, the iconic sheepskin footwear brand. Born in Australia, he was a chartered accountant and avid surfer who moved to Southern California in the late 1970s. With a $500 loan and 500 imported sheepskin boots, he launched UGG and spent 17 years building it into a multi-million dollar enterprise before selling to Deckers in 1995. Today UGG is a global billion-dollar icon.

Born in Australia, Brian Smith developed a passion for surfing and the outdoors while studying accounting. He qualified as a chartered accountant and later studied at UCLA Graduate School of Management, but his true calling emerged on California’s beaches, where he noticed surfers wearing warm sheepskin boots that weren’t available in the U.S. market. In 1978, he imported the first batch of boots and started selling them out of his trunk and to surf shops.

The early years were brutal. Smith nearly went bankrupt multiple times, lost control of the company, then fought to regain it. Rather than chase trend-driven growth, he focused on product authenticity and word-of-mouth, eventually turning UGG into a mainstream footwear staple. In 1995, he sold UGG to Deckers Outdoor Corporation, which scaled the brand into a global luxury phenomenon.

Smith has since become a sought-after speaker and business advisor, sharing lessons on resilience, brand building, and staying true to a vision when no one else believes in it. He lives in Encinitas, California, and remains associated with the UGG brand he created.