Ugg and Kisses: Willy Chavarria Casts a Family, Not a Face

Ugg has spent several seasons converting a seasonal boot into a fashion label. Its new collection with designer Willy Chavarria is the most confident move yet.

Dubbed "Ugg and Kisses," the campaign casts Eva Longoria alongside actor Danny Trejo, musician Becky G and singer-songwriter Ivan Cornejo as a contemporary Latino family, loosely inspired by the 1990s sitcom "Married… with Children." Each performer plays a distinct household role, with a cameo from Chavarria himself to close the film. Longoria fronts the Relaxed Boot and Sock.

The casting logic is worth studying. Rather than buying one celebrity's reach, Ugg bought an ensemble whose combined audiences span generations of Mexican-American culture — telenovela and network TV, film, regional Mexican music and Gen Z pop. That structure gives the brand four distinct entry points into the same story and makes the collection legible as culture rather than product.

It also protects the designer collaboration from the usual failure mode. Fashion tie-ups tend to read as borrowed prestige; Chavarria's work here is narrative, with humour and family dynamics carrying the clothes. That keeps Ugg credible with the fashion audience it needs while staying warm enough for the mainstream shopper who buys the boot every October.

The timing is deliberate. Designer heat lands before the autumn run-in, when Ugg does the bulk of its business and rivals such as Timberland are pushing their own limited-edition collaborations. Owning the cultural conversation in late August is how you set full-price sell-through in November.