Ugg has launched its Feel House multisensory community experience in Brooklyn, N.Y. with a 14,000-square-foot retail pop-up shop. After introducing the concept in March 2022, Ugg worked in partnership with creative agency Matte Projects to develop a sanctuary that allows guests to “recharge.”
Following the Oct. 28 launch of its New York location, Ugg will open Feel House sites in:
- Chengdu, China (Nov. 9, 2022);
- Seoul, South Korea (Nov. 24, 2022); and
- The metaverse, through the Zepeto app (Nov. 24, 2022).
Visitors enter the Brooklyn, N.Y. Feel House via a sensory tunnel that leads them into the cozy and calming space. Audio and lighting concepts support Ugg’s goal of creating an environment that would serve as a refuge, and a custom scent created by Olfactory NYC captures Ugg’s Southern California roots and Australian influences through notes of dry leather, apricot and salt blended with the refreshing aroma of a sea breeze.
Author and Ugg partner Kimberly Drew has arranged a collaboration of local artists, including Shawna X, Grace Miceli and Alicia Mersy, to create custom pieces inspired by feeling that will be on display through January 2023.
Shawna X’s work incorporated elements of traditional, digital and AI media, and was inspired by weaving as a method of navigating the complex in order to heal and find truth. Miceli created a digitally illustrated comic featuring 12 rectangular panels designed to generate openness and encourage viewers to look inward. Mersy collaborated with Furniture Abu Akram of Brooklyn to build a sofa covered in affirmations that cultivate awareness and drive positive actions to maintain integrity. Guests are encouraged to contribute to the space by sharing their feelings through art and words via an interactive wall.
This holiday season, Ugg will support vulnerable communities through partnerships that will produce events, financial support and advocacy. Partners include PFLAG, which advocates on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community, and Sad Girls Club, which promotes mental wellness among Gen Z and millennials of color who identify as women and girls. Ugg will cohost an event with Sad Girls Club founder and filmmaker Elyse Fox on Nov. 17, 2022.
“UGG has always been an emotional brand because of the way it makes you feel,” said Anne Spangenberg, President of UGG and Koolaburra by UGG in a statement. “Through sensorial and interactive environments, our Feel House space is meant to strengthen the bond we have with our consumer.”
