Deckers Outdoor Corporation

Deckers Outdoor Corporation, whose corporate office is located in Goleta, remains close to its origin. It is there, as a UCSB student, that Doug Otto, Chairman, began producing sandals in 1973. Since then, Deckers has grown into an international company with three footwear brands - Teva, Simple and Ugg.

Deckers manufactured its original brand of Deckers sandals for just over 20 years. In 1985 the company entered into a licensing agreement to produce and distribute Teva sandals. With this new license, the company experienced tremendous growth and set the stage for today’s success. Teva, the original sport sandal, was initially designed for river rafting in 1984 by Grand Canyon river guide Mark Thatcher. At first, Teva was known only as a sports sandal with its unique patented strapping system. Since 1994, however, the Teva line has also included fashionable leather casuals that are ideal leisure-wear for men, women and children. Deckers’ success with Teva was evidenced when Deckers was awarded "Company of the Year" by Footwear News in 1992.

In 1993, Deckers acquired Simple Shoes. Created in 1991 by Eric Meyer as a link between athletic and outdoor shoes, Simple styles now include sneakers, clogs, sandals, and men’s and women’s casuals. The shoes are designed to blend performance and style into easy-to-wear shoes for the “feel good lifestyle” inherent to Santa Barbara, California. Deckers also completed its Initial Public Offering in 1993 trading on NASDAQ as “DECK.”

Two years later, Deckers acquired Ugg Holdings, Inc. Brian Smith founded Ugg in 1979 in order to import sheepskin boots from Australia to the U.S. Initially popular among the surfing crowd in Southern California, Ugg boots caught fire in the early 90’s. Today, the Ugg sophisticated footwear line ranges from traditional sheepskin boots and shoes to clogs and slippers for men, women & kids.

Simple Shoes

With all the over-built, over-hyped products out there, it's pretty hard to find sustainable shoes that you can live with. So we started Simple, your stereotypical, anti-stereotype brand offering good shoes and a big dose of reality.

About a gazillion pairs later... give or take a few... we've managed to learn a few things. Well, actually a lot of things. And none more important than this: HOW we make our shoes is just as important as WHY we make them. That means finding more sustainable ways of doing business so we can make a gazillion more.

Which pretty much is where we are today... at the crossroads of here and now, aware of our responsibility to the planet while trying to pay the bills. The nice little shoe company getting in touch with its inner hippie.