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Looking back, it seems apparent that, as with most enterprises, there was a tipping point at which operations moved into warp drive. For ugg Australia, that might have been in 2000, when Oprah Winfrey got a pair of Ultra boots. She liked them so much that she ordered 350 pairs for herself and her staff.

Then, in 2003, when the pink and blue Classic Shorts were featured on her “Favorite Things” holiday show, pandemonium ensued. (In 2007, that list included the company’s Classic Crochet Tall Boot.) Boots appeared on auction sites, selling for triple their retail value. Footwear News dubbed the label “Brand of the Year.” And ugg managed to ensure that various starlets, who love to comb through the swag suites at film festivals and award shows, were photographed wearing their product.

Debbie King, Bloomingdales’ vice president for women’s shoes, admires the brand’s longevity and appeal to a broad audience. The company is always on the move, she says, updating styles and colors to keep the footwear Fashion forward.

“They just keep offering newness and fresh ideas . . . like the Bailey Button [a Style with a button on the side]. In the fall season, Ugg is the No. 1 brand we sell.”

Last December, the Washington Post reported that ugg Boots had “yet to go out of style” — even during the recession.

“Several styles of the boots . . . were sold out on Nordstrom’s website . . . and were not expected to ship for at least a month,” the Post reported. “Nordstrom limits sales of Ugg products to four per customer at the request of the manufacturer, which was worried about shoppers reselling them online. . . . Indeed, many products that are supposedly sold out wind up on the Internet — often with a higher price.”

Ugg Australia has become involved with big-name charity events as well. On Dec. 15, Fred Segal Feet, Ugg and Studio One Collaboration held a benefit for the Surfrider Foundation’s West Los Angeles / Malibu Chapter. At the event, ugg Australia Boots were silk-screened live by FreshPressed, featuring unique artwork from Shepard Fairey (20% of all proceeds from the event went to the charity).

Of course, popularity begets criticism. Two years ago, Zoe Lem, a British celebrity stylist who has done work for magazines such as Elle and Marie Claire and who blogs at MyFashionLife.com, was asked, “What do you think is the absolute worst trend at the moment?”

“Most definitely Ugg boots!” she declared. “They are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen, along with Crocs! Ugg boots have become so popular through celebs . . . wearing them, but they make the ankles look fat and are just so hideous I don’t get them at all.”

A writer at the website DemiCouture announced: “uggs are never acceptable footwear. Uggs are (besides Crocs, of course) the ugliest thing you can put on your poor feet. Come on . . . they deserve better. These shoes do their namesake proud; they are ugly!”

Criticism is not limited to the product. There are people who see Ugg Australia and its parent company as a Microsoft-like leviathan, protecting its interests at all costs and suing over alleged license infringements at the drop of a shoe.