The World’s Weirdest Ugg Sandals Are Finally Here

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In February 2023, Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour made a simple plea: “Please don’t eat my friends.”

It was also the name of her Fall/Winter 2023 show, which she described to me, nearly a year later, as “a vegan-inspired runway collection, where models walked with animal feet on their shoes.” I distinctly remember watching models walk past wearing dolphin and dog prosthetics. Some of them let out primal screeches. I think I even heard a moo.

Now, Taymour is bringing the footwear part of that collection to life through a delightfully strange collaboration with Ugg. Available to shop today, the Collina Strada x Ugg collection features six new styles, including bold platform sandals adorned with tulle, spiked Mary Janes, and of course, clogs inspired by the paws of our fluffy friends.

Collina Strada GoldenGlow Sandal

Collina Strada GoldenGlow Sandal

Collina Strada Mary Jane

Collina Strada Dog Clog

Collina Strada Mary Jane

Collina Strada Flamingo Clog

“It’s really cute because it makes your feet look like animal feet. When you look down, if your pants cover a portion, it's like you have little paw feet,” Taymour says of the animal-inspired look. “I love them.”

She also made some options that speaks to those of us who prefer coquette to critter. “The Mary Jane [let me] integrate the ballet style that's in right now in a quirky way. I really like chunky shoes and it was my take on a chunky ballet slipper,” she says. “They're a great, easy shoe to dress up. They’re very day and night.” She’s planning to wear them to her launch event for the collection this Friday.

Over the past couple of years, Ugg has become a go-to collaborator for fashion brands from Collina Strada to Palace to Chopova Lowena to Molly Goddard to Telfar to Eckhaus Latta—the list actually goes on and on. The boots that were frequently seen as something talent would wear behind the scenes while prepping for a shoot has suddenly morphed into a funky runway staple that’s taken center stage.

Taymour thinks designers like herself are drawn to working with the footwear brand, known for comfortable shoes and being a staple of iconic 2000s celebrity paparazzi shots, because everyone has a Ugg story.

“Ugg is a super nostalgic brand,” she says. “I feel like everyone I knew had Ugg shoes. I grew up in a surf and horseback riding community and in the mornings, we’d just slip on our Ugg shoes and go check the waves or go down to the barn and feed our horses. I've grown up with the brand, and I've always loved them.”

And like everyone who came of age with the brand, she viscerally recalls her first. “I remember wearing my first pair of Ugg shoes to horse shows paired with my riding pants and high socks. I wore them when I was six or seven.”

Naturally, though, she still wanted this collaboration to still feel like Collina Strada. “With this collaboration, we were able to make something really creative using their alternative leather fabrications for the first time in an interesting way. Their luxurious alternative leather is bio-based and vegan, which is really exciting. So I was able to work with them on their higher-tech sustainability offerings, which they've never used before.” It aligned perfectly with her brand ethos, and now you don't have to be a runway model to wear the kind of funky shoe that might just give you the confidence to let out a casual "moo."

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