UGG Australia has opened a new two-level flagship store in King Street, Sydney to house its famous footwear and debut its new UGG Home collection.

The brand, known primarily for its sheepskin boots, has launched a soft furnishing range and a few items of furniture.

UGG Home officially launched online in 2013 but this store will be the first retail space in Australia to house the collection.

The UGG Home products range from woollen rugs, blankets, pillows and throws along with a globe chair and oversized pouf – all implementing the brand’s signature sheep’s wool.

The Classic Leather Bound Rug sees a rich leather base bound and frame a pure wool top. The large Globe Chair, the collection’s most expensive item at $2,900, is reminiscent of an enveloping egg style chair and is a limited-edition piece.

ugg

Each piece features sheep’s wool, for which UGG is renowned

The Oversized Classic Pouf is designed to be multi-functional as a seat, side table or foot rest. It is made of natural wool and features a leather handle and soft microfibre lining at the bottom.

ugg

Part of UGG Home’s furniture pieces, the Oversized Pouf

“Our longtime customers tell us there’s a feeling you get when you slip on an UGG boot or slipper – a combination of relief and utter comfort that is almost indescribable,” UGG president Connie Rishwain said. “We’ve translated that feeling of luxurious comfort into our first collection of UGG products for home.”

UGG held an official launch party in Sydney to unveil both the collection and store last week.

The luxurious store, like many of UGG’s concept stores, boasts a warm yet raw aesthetic with wooden floors and industrial metal accents in the airy loft-style space. A glass staircase sits at the heart of the store and suspended above it are bold decorative lighting pendants, similar to those in the brand’s newly opened store at Emporium, Melbourne.

Wooden storage holds UGG’s footwear and loungewear, and lounge furniture pieces are scattered throughout the space, offering a homey and relaxed ambiance.

UGG’s signature materials of sheep’s wool, raw wood and leather are visible throughout the space and are illuminated by symmetrical strips of lights flush to the ceiling.

ugg

UGG’s new flagship store in King Street, Sydney

“Given the overwhelming success of our QVB store, our latest location will deliver everything the brand has to offer on a much bigger scale,” Kylie Joyce, UGG brand manager said at the launch. “We are truly excited to deliver another world-class store that our loyal customers are currently experiencing globally.

The store’s design has also been developed to align with the brand’s new campaign This is UGG, a theme designed to emotionally connect to the customer through the message that life’s biggest moments are actually the small ones that tell a story.

“In launching this brand campaign, we challenged ourselves to communicate the unique physical and emotional experience that occurs when you own UGG products,” said Rishwain.

UGG, which was founded in 1978 by an Australian surfer living on the Californian coast with a love of sheep’s wool opened its first retail store in 2006 in Soho, New York. It is just one of many Australian brands branching out into home and furniture products. This is a trend being directed by customers keen to experience their favourite brands in other product forms.

In July this year, Australian footwear specialist R.M Williams launched a soft furnishing range. R.M Williams is renowned for its iconic yearling leather boots but now offers quality bed linen, cushions, throws and towels.

While not as luxurious as these brands, Australian stationary store Typo also unveiled The Hall earlier this year, a collection of inexpensive decor pieces that echo the brand’s quirky personality. Backed by Cotton-On Group, Australia’s largest value fashion group, The Hall also features an array of cushions, storage pieces, beach umbrellas and homeware items.

H&M, an international label that has recently hit Australia, launched a homewares line last month in Australia. The line already has a large presence in the US and Europe.

“Our concept is fashion for your home,” Evelina Kravaev Soderberg, global head of design for H&M Home told the Daily Telegraph.

“As we are H&M, of course we get a lot of inspiration from the garment side when it comes to colours, fabrics and prints,” she said. “But there are differences as well as not all fashion trends are suitable for the home interior.

“We respect the fact that the products we make should land in a home and not on a body so when we develop our collections we get a lot of inspiration from different creative fields like art, architecture, movies and interiors.”