Item 1. Business

General

We are a global leader in designing, marketing, and distributing innovative footwear, apparel, and accessories developed for both everyday casual lifestyle use and high-performance activities. We market our products primarily under five proprietary brands: UGG, HOKA, Teva, Sanuk, and Koolaburra. We believe that our products are distinctive and appeal to a broad demographic. We sell our products through quality domestic and international retailers, international distributors, and directly to our global consumers through our Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) business, which is comprised of our e-commerce websites and retail stores. We seek to differentiate our brands and products by offering diverse lines that emphasize authenticity, functionality, quality, and comfort, and products tailored to a variety of activities, seasons, and demographic groups. All of our products are manufactured by independent manufacturers.

Recent Developments

COVID-19 Global Pandemic**.** Throughout fiscal year 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic (referred to herein as the pandemic) spread globally, impacting regions in which we operate our business, and in which our wholesale customers, retail stores, manufacturers, and suppliers are located. As of the date of this Annual Report, there continue to be widespread concerns about the ongoing impacts and disruptions caused by the pandemic, including the potential for additional increases in the number of positive COVID-19 cases in various geographic regions, and governmental orders and restrictions implemented to control further spread of the disease.

We experienced a number of material impacts resulting from the pandemic during the year ended March 31, 2021, and the overall impact of the pandemic on our business continues to be uncertain and subject to change. However, we have taken certain precautionary measures intended to help minimize risk to our business, employees, customers, consumers, partners, suppliers, and the communities in which we operate, including the following:

• Many of our Company-owned-and-operated stores, and we believe that many of the retail stores of our wholesale customers and retail partners, were closed at various times throughout fiscal year 2021.

• Our global e-commerce business, including our Company-owned websites and the online presence of our wholesale customers, remained substantially operational throughout fiscal year 2021, and we observed strong demand for all of our brands within our e-commerce business. Our e-commerce business has been positively impacted by consumers migrating to online shopping. This trend, which has been exacerbated by the impacts of the pandemic, has mitigated the negative pressure we are experiencing within our wholesale and retail store businesses.

• Our warehouse and distribution center (DC), as well as our global third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and third-party carriers, are operating at reduced capacity. We are experiencing certain operational and logistical challenges as a result of these limited and modified operations, including challenges associated with shipping higher quantities of products through our e-commerce business compared to prior periods.

• We experienced certain capacity constraints within our sourcing network, which includes material vendors and third-party manufacturers during fiscal year 2021, primarily as a result of the pandemic. While we have mitigated the effects of these disruptions, it is possible we will experience additional disruptions to our supply chain.

Refer to Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and Part II, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” within this Annual Report for further information on the associated risks and impacts on our business and results of operations.

Products and Brands

We market our products primarily under five proprietary brands, which consist of our four primary brands and our other brands, which consist primarily of the Koolaburra by UGG brand. Our brands compete across the fashion and casual lifestyle, performance, running and outdoor markets.

UGG. The UGG brand is one of the most iconic and recognized brands in our industry, which highlights our successful track record of building niche brands into lifestyle and fashion market leaders. With loyal consumers around the world, the UGG brand has proven to be a highly resilient line of premium footwear, apparel, and accessories with expanded product offerings and a growing global audience that appeals to a broad demographic. We intend to continue diversifying the UGG brand to drive year-round product sales, including through expansion of Women’s spring and summer footwear, Men’s products, and apparel, home goods, and accessories. The UGG brand is sold globally, including in the United States (US), Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

HOKA**.** The HOKA brand is an authentic, premium line of year-round performance footwear and apparel that offers enhanced cushioning and inherent stability with minimal weight. Originally designed for ultra-runners, the brand now appeals to world champions, taste makers, and everyday athletes. The HOKA brand is quickly becoming a leading brand within the run specialty wholesale accounts, with strong marketing fueling both domestic and international sales growth. We intend to leverage our domestic specialty strategy to expand and invest in international sales growth. We continue to build product extensions in trail, fitness, and lifestyle. The HOKA brand is sold globally, including in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

Teva. The Teva brand was born in the Grand Canyon and for decades has served as a trusted companion for outdoor adventure seekers around the world. Today, Teva builds upon sport sandal leadership, authentic outdoor heritage, and a commitment to sustainability to drive growth through category expansion and a young, diverse, and adventurous consumer. The Teva brand’s product line includes sandals, shoes, and boots. The Teva brand is sold globally, including in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

Sanuk. The Sanuk brand originated in Southern California surf culture and has manifested into a lifestyle brand with a presence in the relaxed casual shoe and sandal categories, focusing on innovations in comfort and sustainability. The Sanuk brand’s use of unexpected materials and unconventional constructions, combined with its fun and playful branding, are key elements of the brand’s identity. The Sanuk brand is primarily sold in the US.

Other Brands. Other brands consist primarily of the Koolaburra by UGG brand. The Koolaburra brand is a casual footwear fashion line using sheepskin and other plush materials and is intended to target the value-oriented consumer in order to complement the UGG brand offering. Our Other brands are primarily sold in North America.

Sales and Distribution

US Distribution. In our wholesale channel, we distribute our products in the US through sales representatives, who are organized by account type or geographically and by brand. In addition to our wholesale channel, we sell products directly to consumers through our DTC business and fulfill online orders through our retail stores.

Our sales force is separated by brand, as each brand generally has certain specialty customers that expect a dedicated sales team with specialized knowledge of the brand’s product offerings. However, there is some overlap between the sales teams and customers, and we have aligned our brands’ sales forces to position them for the future success of all of our brands.

We currently distribute products sold in the US through our DC in Moreno Valley, California, as well as through a 3PL in Pennsylvania. Our DC features a warehouse management system that enables us to efficiently pick and pack products for direct shipment to customers. Further, we intend to expand our distribution facilities, and we are in the early stages of opening a new US DC located in Mooresville, Indiana.

Refer to Part I, Item 2, “Properties,” and Note 7, “Leases and Other Commitments,” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV within this Annual Report for further information on our properties and related minimum lease and other commitments.

International Distribution. Internationally, in our wholesale channel, we distribute our products through independent distributors and wholly owned subsidiaries in many regions and countries, including Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, among others. We also sell products internationally, particularly in China, through partner retail stores, which are branded stores that are wholly owned and operated by third parties. In addition, in certain countries we sell products through our DTC business. For our wholesale and DTC businesses, we distribute our products through a number of DCs managed by 3PLs in certain international locations.

UGG Wholesale. We sell our UGG brand products primarily through lifestyle and sport retailers such as Foot Locker and Journeys, fashion lifestyle retailers such as Urban Outfitters and ASOS, domestic higher-end department stores such as Nordstrom, Dillard’s, and Macy’s, as well as online retailers such as Amazon.com, Zappos.com, and Zalando.com. As the retail marketplace continues to evolve to reflect changing consumer preferences, we continually review and evaluate our UGG wholesale distribution and product segmentation approach. For example, as the UGG brand continues to amplify its audience with younger consumers, our distribution to these consumers is expanding faster through our lifestyle and sport retailers, which is reducing our dependence on department stores.

HOKA Wholesale. We sell select HOKA brand footwear primarily through full-service domestic specialty retailers and select online retailers, including Fleet Feet, Road Runner Sports, JackRabbit, REI, Zappos.com, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Running Warehouse, and Nordstrom. We continue to expand our HOKA brand wholesale distribution in international markets, including through strategic partners such as Intersport and Sport 2000 in Europe and Xebio Group and Himaraya in Japan.

Teva Wholesale. We sell our Teva brand footwear primarily through specialty outdoor retailers, sporting goods and department stores, including DSW, REI, Famous Footwear, Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, DICK’s Sporting Goods, United Arrows, ABC Mart, Aeon Sports, and online retailers such as Amazon.com and Zappos.com.

Sanuk Wholesale. We sell our Sanuk brand footwear primarily through domestic independent action sports and outdoor specialty footwear retailers, larger national retail chains, including Journeys, Dillard’s, DSW, REI, and online retailers such as Amazon.com and Zappos.com.

Other Brands Wholesale. We sell our Other brands’ footwear primarily through department stores and online retailers. Key accounts of the Koolaburra brand include Kohl’s, DSW, QVC, and Rack Room Shoes.

Direct-to-Consumer. Our DTC business is comprised of our e-commerce business, which we operate through various websites and platforms, and retail stores. Our websites and retail stores are largely intertwined and interdependent. In an omni-channel marketplace, we believe many of our consumers interact with both our retail stores and our websites before making purchasing decisions. For example, consumers may feel or try on products in our retail stores and then place an order online later. Conversely, they may initially research products online, and then view inventory availability by store location and make a purchase in store. We have observed a meaningful shift in the way consumers shop for products and make purchasing decisions, evidenced by decreases in consumer retail store activity as consumers accelerate their migration to online shopping. We have optimized our digital marketing strategy to capitalize on these trends, which has accelerated global online consumer acquisition and retention rates. Although we continue to see consumers migrate to online shopping, our sales channels interact with each other and largely overlap to provide a fluid purchasing experience, which engenders brand loyalty while increasing product sales and improving our inventory productivity, Further, our domestic and international consumer loyalty programs allow our consumers to earn points and awards across the DTC business, which has contributed to higher brand demand.

Our retail stores enable us to expose consumers to a more curated selection of products, directly impact our consumers’ experience with our brands, and sell our products at retail prices thereby generating larger gross margins. Our retail stores are predominantly UGG brand concept stores and UGG brand outlet stores. Through our outlet stores, we sell some of our discontinued styles from prior seasons, full price in-line products, as well as products made specifically for the outlet stores. We continue to open outlet stores in key markets to further grow our brand presence and appeal to a broader consumer base. We also have several UGG brand flagship stores, which are lead concept stores in key markets designed to showcase the UGG brand products, and we continue to launch flagship stores in prominent locations. For example, in November 2020 we opened a flagship store in New York City, which highlights the expansive collection of the brand’s product offerings while showcasing the breadth and depth of UGG as a lifestyle brand. We anticipate opening a curated fleet of flagship stores in future periods to continue interacting with our consumers and enhancing brand loyalty.

As of March 31, 2021, we operated our e-commerce business through Company-owned websites and mobile platforms in 58 different countries, and had a total of 140 global retail stores, which includes 71 concept stores and 69 outlet stores.

Refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” within this Annual Report for further disclosure and discussion of our DTC business.

Product Design and Development

The design and development functions for all of our brands are performed by a combination of internal design and development staff and outside freelance designers. Our design and development staff work closely with brand management to develop new styles and product lines. Throughout the development process, we have multiple design and development reviews, which we then coordinate with our independent manufacturers. To ensure quality, consistency, and efficiency in our product design and development process, we continually evaluate the availability and cost of raw materials, the capabilities and capacity of our independent manufacturers, and the target retail price of new products.

Manufacturing and Supply Chain

We outsource the production of our products to independent manufacturers, which are primarily located in Asia. We generally purchase products from our manufacturers on the basis of individual purchase orders or short-term purchase commitments, rather than maintaining long-term purchase commitments, which provides us greater flexibility to adapt to changing consumer preferences, changes in international trade relations, and evolving inventory management requirements. Production by our independent manufacturers is performed in accordance with our detailed product specifications and rigorous quality control and operating compliance standards. We maintain a buying office in Hong Kong, as well as on-site supervisory offices in China and Vietnam, which collectively serve as a strong link to our independent manufacturers. We believe our strong regional presence enhances our manufacturing processes by providing predictability of material availability and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations, and adherence to quality control standards and final design specifications.

The majority of the materials and components used in the production of our products by these independent manufacturers are purchased from independent suppliers that we designate. At our direction, our manufacturers purchase the majority of the sheepskin used in our products from two tanneries in China, which source their sheepskin primarily from Australia and the United Kingdom (UK). We maintain routine communication with the tanneries to closely monitor the supply of high-quality sheepskin for our projected UGG brand production. To ensure an adequate supply of sheepskin, we forecast our expected usage in advance at a forward price. We also enter into purchasing contracts and other pricing arrangements with certain sheepskin and leather suppliers to manage the supply of sheepskin. We believe current supplies are sufficient to meet our current and anticipated demand, but we continually monitor our supply chain and investigate options to accommodate our expected growth, as well as unexpected supply chain issues. Refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and Note 7, “Leases and Other Commitments,” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV within this Annual Report for further information on our minimum purchase commitments.

We require our independent manufacturers and designated suppliers, including our partners and licensees, to adopt our Ethical Supply Chain Supplier Code of Conduct, which specifies that they comply with all local laws and regulations governing human rights, working conditions, anti-corruption laws, restricted substances, conflict minerals, animal welfare, and environmental compliance before we are willing to conduct business with them.

We use a proprietary raw material, UGGpure, which is repurposed wool woven into a durable backing, and UGGplush, which is repurposed wool and lyocell woven into a durable backing, in some of our UGG brand products. As part of an ongoing effort to eliminate waste as part of our corporate sustainability efforts, at this time, all of the wool in UGGpure and UGGplush is sheared from the skins we are already using in our products. In addition, we are continuing to drive our strategy of introducing counter-seasonal products through category expansion, including the UGG brand’s spring and summer products, as well as the year-round performance footwear product offering of the HOKA brand, which we believe will help further reduce our dependency on sheepskin. Excluding sheepskin, UGGpure and UGGplush, we believe that substantially all raw materials and components used to manufacture our products, including wool, rubber, leather, and nylon webbing, are generally available from multiple sources at competitive prices.

Inventory Management and Product Returns

We have an extended design and manufacturing process, which involves the initial design of our products, the purchase of raw materials, the accumulation of inventories, the subsequent sale of the inventories, and the collection of the resulting accounts receivable. This production cycle results in significant liquidity requirements and working capital fluctuations throughout our fiscal year. Because our production cycle typically involves long lead times, which requires us to make manufacturing decisions several months in advance of an anticipated purchasing decision by the consumer, it is challenging for us to estimate and manage our inventory and working capital requirements.

We seek to manage our inventory levels by considering existing customer orders, forecasted sales and budgets for both our wholesale and DTC channels, and the delivery requirements of our customers. Our systems and processes are designed to improve our product forecasting, inventory control and supply chain management capabilities and we are making investments in a new end-to-end planning system to further support our scaling business, including our e-commerce business. In addition, added discipline around SKU productivity, product purchasing decisions, the reduction of production lead times, and the sale of excess inventory through our liquidation channels, are key areas of focus that we expect will further enhance inventory performance.

Our general practice, and the general practice in our industry, is to offer wholesale customers the right to return defective or improperly shipped merchandise, and to accept returns from our DTC consumers between 30 to 90 days from the point of sale for cash or credit.

We encourage our wholesale and distributor customers to place a significant portion of orders as pre-season orders, which are typically placed up to 12 months prior to the anticipated shipment date, as well as in-season fill-in orders that can be shipped immediately. We work with our customers through pre-season programs to enable us to better plan our production schedule, inventory, and shipping requirements.

Refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” within this Annual Report under the sections entitled “Liquidity” and “Contractual Obligations” for further information on our working capital and operating requirements as well as our purchase obligations for product.

Human Capital - Our People and Our Culture

Employees**.** As of March 31, 2021, we employed approximately 3,400 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia. This includes approximately 1,300 employees in our retail stores worldwide, which includes part-time and seasonal employees. For a variety of reasons, we believe that our relationship with our employees is generally favorable.

Culture**.** Our purpose is to positively impact the world by uniting purposeful brands with diverse people driven to succeed and create change. Our five key values, which guide our journey onward together, help hold us accountable to deliver on this purpose:

• Come as you are.

• Better together.

• Commit to create.

• Own it.

• Do good and do great.

Our values define our Company and serve as the driving force behind how we work together and with our customers, our consumers, our partners, our suppliers, and our communities. We also have detailed ethics and compliance policies that instill a commitment to ethical behavior and legal compliance across our Company. Through our open-door policy and culture, employees are encouraged to approach their managers if they believe violations of standards or policies have occurred, and are also able to make confidential and anonymous reports using an online or telephone hotline hosted by an independent third-party provider.

Encouraging Diversity**.** We prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and believe that it is critical to creating an organization where all employees can come as they are. We believe that the inclusion of underrepresented perspectives develops better outcomes and policies, and a diverse pool of leaders brings a unique set of experiences, opinions, and thoughts on critical issues that help enhance our business. To that end, we have added five new directors to our Board of Directors since 2018, two of whom are female, and four of whom are from underrepresented communities. Our Board of Directors is now comprised of a total of ten directors, four of whom are female, and six of whom are from underrepresented communities.

Our Code of Ethics, on which we train our employees bi-annually, as well as our annual Corporate Responsibility Report, codifies these values and our commitment to DEI. We have a robust collection of programs designed to support initiatives to create a more inclusive workplace, as well as policies and practices aimed at increasing diversity. We anticipate implementing a comprehensive, global strategy for DEI, and have deployed mandatory anti-racism and implicit bias training, as well as a suite of additional learning and development resources. We have also joined The Valuable 500, which is a business-to-business initiative comprised of companies committed to disability inclusion, and the Civic Alliance which is a nonpartisan business coalition that champions democracy and civic participation.

Charitable Giving and Volunteering. Our charitable contributions, product donations, and employee volunteer efforts are an essential part of our culture. During fiscal year 2021, we donated to various non-profit organizations, and continued to provide monetary support and product donations to address the impacts of the pandemic on the communities in which we operate. Further, during this period we dedicated our strategic giving and community-engagement efforts to categories aligned with our sustainable development goals (SDGs), including DEI, the environment, at-risk youth, education, and community support. We also encourage our employees to volunteer by compensating each employee for up to 24 hours of volunteer time each year.

Talent Development and Retention**.** The ability to attract, develop and retain employees is critical to our long-term success. We focus on our employees’ growth, creating experiences that align with our strategic priorities and promote inclusion, performance, and opportunities for development. For example, our leadership team mentors rising talent on an informal basis, which we believe accelerates the development of our top performers, increases organizational learning, and improves employee performance and retention. Further, our executive team and Board of Directors commits substantial time to evaluating the bench strength of our leadership and supporting their career development while improving organizational performance.

We have demonstrated a history of investing in our workforce by offering competitive salaries and wages, as well as annual increases based on merit. Annual incentive compensation is based on Company and individual performance. Further, to foster a stronger sense of ownership and align the interests of management with stockholders, restricted stock units are granted to a substantial proportion of our executive employees under our broad-based stock incentive programs. In addition, we engage a nationally recognized outside compensation and benefits consulting firm to independently evaluate the effectiveness of our executive compensation and total rewards programs and to provide benchmarking against our peers within the industry.

Employee Wellness**.** We strive to be one of the best places to work and recognize our employees are at different stages of life and have specific individual needs. We offer affordable, innovative, comprehensive and competitive benefits package that range from health insurance, retirement plan, life insurance, disability, accident coverage, paid time off, paid and unpaid leave, mental health benefits and other voluntary benefits.

Employee Health and Safety**.** The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority. We have comprehensive safety training programs that ensure our employees know how to do their jobs safely and in compliance with laws and regulations. We operate in modern, efficient, and safe facilities, and have had minimal accident and injury rates Company-wide.

In an effort to protect the health and safety of our employees during the pandemic, we transitioned those employees who could perform their jobs remotely to a virtual work environment, and we are limiting the number of employees on-site relative to our typical personnel capacity. We have also implemented enhanced safety measures and protocols at our facilities.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

As a global leader in designing, marketing and distributing innovative footwear, apparel, and accessories, our worldwide reach and impact is significant. We believe consumers are increasingly buying brands that advance sustainable business practices and deliver quality products while striving for minimal environmental impact by employing socially conscious operations. Our sustainability policies and strategies are aligned with, and informed by, our ongoing efforts with multi-stakeholder initiatives, which involve our stockholders, employees, suppliers and our customers, as well as other brands and non-governmental organizations. Through our holistic Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Program, which has been in existence since 2010, we are committed to advancing our sustainable business initiatives. As a result of our efforts, we have been recognized as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek, and ranked 15th of Investor’s Business Daily’s top 50 ESG companies during fiscal year 2021.

ESG Oversight. Our Board of Directors, through its Corporate Governance Committee, which is comprised of three independent directors, oversees our corporate responsibility and sustainability efforts. The Corporate Governance Committee receives quarterly updates and the full Board regularly receives updates on the status of our sustainability program. Our Sustainability and Compliance Officer is responsible for the day-to-day management of our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Program.

Our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Program aligns our internal teams with our SDGs and establishes policies to encourage our partners and suppliers to employ sustainable business practices. We annually assess risks related to ESG issues as part of our overall enterprise risk management approach. In addition, our internal audit team provides periodic targeted reviews of our ESG-related policies and procedures to the Audit Committee.

Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving measurable sustainability success is critical to our future economic and business growth, and we work to establish SDGs that we believe will make the most significant impact for our business, our stockholders, and the communities in which we operate. We are a member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), which is the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. This membership requires an annual statement of progress, which is reflected in our Corporate Responsibility Report. Our Sustainability and Compliance Officer identifies specific SDGs established by the UNGC, which we adopt to guide our efforts to address environmental and social challenges. Our SDGs are currently focused on categories where we believe we can make substantial impacts.

The following is a brief overview of our current SDGs and related achievements during the year ended March 31, 2021:

• Materials. We strive to incorporate more certified responsible and sustainable materials in our products (including recycled, renewable, regenerated, and natural). During fiscal year 2021, we sourced the vast majority of our leather supplies from Leather Working Group-certified tanneries, which promote sustainable and environmentally friendly business practices within the leather industry. We finalized our raw material Lifecycle Assessment (LCA), which allowed us to seek sustainable alternatives for key product materials, including recycled polyester, repurposed wool, and plant-based materials.

*•*Animal Welfare. We do not believe in the exploitation or killing of animals solely for the purpose of their fur. We only use hides that are the byproduct of the meat industry and, with our innovative UGGpure and UGGplush technologies, the wool used in our UGG brand footwear is almost entirely repurposed from sheepskin we are already using. Any virgin market wool must be certified by the Responsible Wool Standard. We require our supply chain partners to annually certify compliance with our Ethical Sourcing and Animal Welfare Policy.

• Waste. We aim to sustainably reduce waste generated at our facilities and partner facilities through reduction, recycling, and reuse. Our DC in Moreno Valley, California is implementing efforts to become a zero-waste facility. We are taking steps towards removing single-use plastic in our packaging, at our corporate headquarters, retail stores and DC. We have also implemented tracking programs with the majority of our manufacturing partners to monitor waste generation and waste diversion methods and we have extended this monitoring program to some suppliers and tannery partners.

*•*Water. We strive to mitigate water scarcity in the countries we operate in by reducing water consumption and improving water quality throughout our operations. We have reduced water consumption among our manufacturing partners and have set reduction targets for our suppliers.

• Chemistry. We seek to achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals and reduce the discharge of hazardous substances among our key business partners.

• Climate and Clean Energy. We aim to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions throughout our operations. We have finalized our raw materials LCA to guide our brands toward more preferred material selections and have engaged climate experts to measure our Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprint with the goal of setting robust science-based targets in line with the Paris Agreement. We are founders of the Savory Institute's Land to Market program, working to protect and reverse environmental degradation through regenerative farming practices.

• Gender Equality and Quality Education. In the US we have obtained EDGE (Economic Dividends for Gender Equality) certification, the leading global assessment and business certification for gender equality. In addition to our own corporate DEI efforts, we promote gender equality and quality education at our supply chain partners through our partnership with the Business for Social Responsibility’s HERproject, which positively impacts the well-being of women through workplace-based education and training to promote health, gender equality and financial inclusion. Further, our brands have all made a commitment to represent BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and diverse body types and abilities in their marketing campaigns.

• Human Rights. We are committed to positively impact the communities where we operate in, including assuring industry leading human rights practices within our supply chain. We have established robust criteria in our Ethical Supply Chain Supplier Code of Conduct which outlines our expectations of our partners on various topics including child labor, forced labor, slavery and human trafficking, harassment, discrimination, health and safety, compensation, working hours, freedom of association, and environment. Topics covered in our Supplier Code of Conduct, health and safety ratings, and environmental performance are included in our performance scorecards which are regularly reviewed by our executive management. Partners who underperform are placed on corrective action plans and monitored more frequently. We are members of the Apparel Transparency Pledge to promote a standard for supply chain disclosure in the garment and footwear industry. We publish a report that includes all of our Tier 1 and Tier 2 supply chain partners and ensure it is regularly updated to include key details like number of employees at each site, location, and types of products made. We are also members of The Social & Labor Convergence Program, a multi-stakeholder initiative whose goal is to increase the effectiveness of factory audits.

Our Corporate Responsibility Report for the year ended March 31, 2021, which will be published under the “Responsibility” tab of our website located at www.deckers.com, will provide more information regarding our fiscal year 2021 ESG achievements. We believe that the progress of our corporate responsibility efforts is served by disclosing goals and relevant metrics and, to that end, we have aligned the reporting standards included in our Corporate Responsibility Report with the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (commonly referred to as TCFD), Global Reporting Initiative’s (commonly referred to as GRI) Core Standards, and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s (commonly referred to as SASB) Consumer Goods Standards. The content of our Corporate Responsibility Reports is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC.

Reportable Operating Segments and Geographic Areas

Our six reportable operating segments include the five strategic business units responsible for the worldwide operations of the wholesale divisions of our brands (UGG, HOKA, Teva, Sanuk, and Other brands), plus our DTC business. Refer to Note 12, “Reportable Operating Segments,” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV within this Annual Report for further information regarding our reportable operating segments. Additionally, refer to Note 13, “Concentration of Business,” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV within this Annual Report for financial information about geographic areas and concentration of related business risks.

Seasonality

Our business is seasonal, with the highest percentage of UGG and Koolaburra brand net sales occurring in the quarters ending September 30th and December 31st and the highest percentage of Teva and Sanuk brand net sales occurring in the quarters ending March 31st and June 30th. Net sales for the HOKA brand occur more evenly throughout the year reflecting the brand's year-round performance product offerings. Due to the magnitude of the UGG brand relative to our other brands, our aggregate net sales in the quarters ending September 30th and December 31st still significantly exceed our aggregate net sales in the quarters ending March 31st and June 30th. As we continue to take steps to diversify and expand our product offerings by creating more year-round styles, and as net sales of the HOKA brand continue to increase as a percentage of our aggregate net sales, we expect the impact from seasonality to continue to decrease over time. However, it is unclear whether seasonal impacts will be minimized or exaggerated in future periods as a result of the disruptions and uncertainties caused by the pandemic.

For further discussion of the factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations, as well as factors that may impact our future results of operations, refer to Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” and Part II, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” within this Annual Report.

Competition

The markets in which we operate are highly competitive. Our competitors include athletic and footwear companies, branded apparel companies and retailers with their own private labels. Although the industry is fragmented, many of our competitors are larger and have substantially greater resources, several of which compete directly with some of our products. In addition, access to offshore manufacturing and the growth of e-commerce has made it easier for new companies to enter the markets in which we compete, further increasing competition in the footwear, apparel, and accessories industry. In particular, and in part due to the popularity of our UGG brand and HOKA brand products, we face increasing competition from a significant number of domestic and international competitors selling products designed to compete directly or indirectly with our products. We believe that our ability to successfully compete depends on numerous factors, including our ability to predict, assess, and respond quickly to changing consumer tastes and preferences, produce appealing products that meet expectations for product quality and technical performance, maintain and enhance the image and strength of our brands, price our products competitively, and weather the impacts and disruptions caused by the pandemic, among others.

In addition, we believe that our key customers face intense competition from other department stores, sporting goods stores, retail specialty stores, and online retailers, among others, which could negatively impact the financial stability of their businesses and their ability to conduct business with us.

Refer to Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” within this Annual Report for further discussion of the potential impact of competition on our business and results of operations.

Patents and Trademarks

We utilize trademarks for virtually all of our products and believe that having distinctive marks that are readily identifiable is an important factor in creating a market for our products, promoting our brands, and distinguishing our products from the products of others. We currently hold trademark registrations for “UGG,” “Teva,” “Sanuk,” “HOKA,” “Koolaburra,” “UGGpure,” and other marks in the US, and for certain of the marks in many other countries, including Canada, China, the UK, various countries in the European Union (EU), Japan, and Korea. As of March 31, 2021, we hold 194 designs and inventions with corresponding design or utility patent registrations, plus 23 designs and inventions which are currently pending registration. These patents expire at various times. We regard our proprietary rights as valuable assets and vigorously protect such rights against infringement by third parties.

Government Regulation

Compliance with federal, state, and local environmental regulations has not had, and it is not expected to have, any material effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or competitive position based on information and circumstances known to us at this time.

Available Information

Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and information statements (and any amendments or supplements to the foregoing) filed with or furnished to the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act are available free of charge on our website at www.deckers.com. Such documents and information are available as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC.

We also make the following corporate governance documents available through our website: Audit Committee Charter, Compensation Committee Charter, Corporate Governance Committee Charter, Corporate Disclosure Policy, Code of Ethics, Deckers 2020 Corporate Responsibility Report, Restricted Substance Packet, Ethical Supply Chain Supplier Code of Conduct, Accounting and Finance Code of Ethics, Corporate Governance Guidelines, Deckers Environmental Policy, Ethical Sourcing and Animal Welfare Policy, Paper and Forest Procurement Policy, and Conflict Minerals Policy.

The information contained on or accessed through our website does not constitute part of this Annual Report, and references to our website address within this Annual Report are inactive textual references only.