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. Our brands compete across the fashion and casual lifestyle, performance, running, and outdoor markets. We believe 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 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.

Products and Brands

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. The UGG brand is sold globally, including in the 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. Strong marketing has fueled both domestic and international sales growth for the HOKA brand, which has quickly become a leading brand within our run and outdoor specialty wholesale accounts and is growing within selective key accounts. The HOKA brand’s product line includes running, trail, hiking, 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 brand. The Koolaburra brand is a casual footwear fashion line using plush materials and is intended to target the value-oriented consumer to complement the UGG brand offering. Our Other brands are primarily sold in the US and Canada.

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 DCs and 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.

We currently distribute products sold in the US through our DCs in Moreno Valley, California, and Mooresville, Indiana, as well as through a 3PL in Pennsylvania. Our DCs feature a warehouse management system that enables us to efficiently pick and pack products for direct shipment to customers. We are further expanding our DCs and are in the early stages of building out a third US DC located in Mooresville, Indiana.

Refer to Part I, Item 2, “Properties,” and Note 7, "Commitments and Contingencies," 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.

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 (reportable operating segments).

UGG Wholesale. We sell our UGG brand products primarily through fashion lifestyle retailers such as Urban Outfitters, domestic higher-end department stores such as Nordstrom, Dillard’s, and Macy’s, streetwear and sports style partners, such as Footlocker and Journey’s, and 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 sports style partners.

HOKA Wholesale. We sell select HOKA brand footwear primarily through full-service domestic specialty retailers such as Fleet Feet and Road Runner Sports, outdoor retailers, such as REI, select online retailers such as Zappos.com, other strategic partners, such as DICK’s Sporting Goods and Running Warehouse, streetwear and sports style partners, such as Footlocker, and higher-end department stores, such as 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 outdoor retailers, such as REI, fashion lifestyle retailers, such as Urban Outfitters, other strategic partners, such as DICK’s Sporting Goods, large national retail chains, such as Famous Footwear and DSW, higher-end department stores such as Nordstrom, and online retailers such as Amazon.com and Zappos.com. We continue to expand our Teva brand wholesale distribution in international markets, including through strategic partners such as United Arrows and ABC Mart in Japan.

Sanuk Wholesale. We sell our Sanuk brand footwear primarily through domestic sports style partners, such as Journey’s, higher-end department stores, such as Dillard’s, larger national retail chains, such as DSW, and online retailers such as Amazon.com and Zappos.com.

Other Brands Wholesale. Other brands is primarily made up of the Koolaburra brand. We sell our Koolaburra brand footwear primarily through larger national retail chains, including Kohl’s, DSW, Shoe Carnival, and Famous Footwear, certain higher-end department stores, such as Macy’s, and online retailers such as Amazon.com and Zappos.com.

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 DTC online and retail 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 profit as a percentage of net sales (gross margin). Our Company-owned mono branded retail stores are predominantly UGG brand concept stores and UGG brand outlet stores, as well as new openings of HOKA brand retail 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 and a HOKA brand flagship store, which are Company-owned premium mono branded concept stores in key markets designed to showcase the UGG and HOKA brand products.

As of March 31, 2023, we operate our e-commerce business through Company-owned websites and mobile platforms in 57 different countries and have a total of 164 global retail stores (including 18 HOKA brand retail stores), which includes 81 concept stores and 83 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.

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 further information about geographic areas and concentration of related business risks.

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 substantial 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 fixed purchasing contracts and other pricing arrangements with certain suppliers of sheepskin, wool (primarily for UGGpure, further discussed below), leather, and sugarcane derived ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) to manage price volatility. 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, "Commitments and Contingencies," of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV within this Annual Report for further information on our minimum purchase commitments.

We use a proprietary material, UGGpure, which is almost entirely repurposed wool woven into a durable backing, and UGGplush, which is almost entirely repurposed wool and lyocell woven into a durable backing, in some of our UGG brand products. In an 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 sheepskin 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 further reduce our dependence on sheepskin.

Excluding sheepskin, UGGpure, UGGplush, and sugarcane derived resin or EVA, 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.

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 must comply with all local laws and regulations governing human rights, working conditions, anti-corruption laws, restricted substances, and environmental compliance, including animal welfare and conflict minerals, before we are willing to conduct business with them. Refer to the “Environmental, Social, and Governance” section below for further information.

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 and other 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 customer, 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 customers in our wholesale channel the right to return defective or improperly shipped merchandise, and to accept returns from our consumers in the DTC channel between 30 to 90 days from the point of sale for cash or credit.

We encourage our 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.

Similar to other companies in our industry, we continue to monitor pressures on the global supply chain, which have shifted the timing of shipments across our brands compared to the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022 (the prior period). However, we have seen improvements in transit lead times and related freight costs, compared to the prior period. Refer to Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” within this Annual Report for further information on the impacts on our business of supply chain disruptions and the associated risks. 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 “Trends and Uncertainties Impacting Our Business and Industry,” “Liquidity,” and “Contractual Obligations” for further information on the impact of supply chain disruptions on our results of operations, our working capital and operating requirements, as well as our purchase obligations for product, respectively.

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 deliver quality products while striving for minimal environmental impact by employing sustainable business practices. Our sustainability policies and strategies are informed by our ongoing efforts with multi-stakeholder initiatives, which involve our stockholders, employees, suppliers, and customers, as well as other brands and non-governmental organizations. Through our holistic ESG 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 by Investor’s Business Daily as one of the Best ESG Companies, by Sustainalytics as one of the Top-Rated ESG Companies, by Newsweek as one of America’s Most Responsible Companies, and included on the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index during fiscal year 2023.

ESG Oversight. Our Board of Directors, through its Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability & Governance Committee (Corporate Governance Committee), which is comprised of four independent directors. Our Board of Directors oversees our ESG strategy and has ultimate oversight over all sustainability initiatives, strategies, and programs, including economic, social, and environmental risks. The Corporate Governance Committee and Board of Directors regularly receive updates on the status of our ESG program. In addition, the Audit & Risk Management Committee (Audit Committee) of the Board periodically assesses risk management, including climate-related risks and policies to ensure a consistent corporate strategy. The Board of Directors considers whether the ESG program adequately identifies material risks in a timely fashion, implements appropriate responsive risk management strategies, and transmits necessary information with respect to material risks within the organization. Our Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) is responsible for the day-to-day management of our ESG program. The program’s execution is driven by our leadership team and various cross-functional teams including our ethical sourcing, facilities, DCs, brands, innovation, materials, and supply chain teams.

Our ESG program aligns our internal teams with our Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), detailed below, 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.

ESG Education*.* During fiscal year 2023, our Corporate Governance Committee, together with our CAO, enrolled in the Diligent ESG and Climate Leadership Certificate Program. Additionally, as set forth in our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Board of Directors is required to complete annual training on our Code of Ethics. Together, we believe these efforts further evidence our ongoing commitment to sustainable business practices and strong ESG performance.

ESG Performance Metrics*.* Our pay-for-performance philosophy demands that we offer performance-based compensation that is directly linked to factors that the Talent & Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors believes will lead to the creation of stockholder value. During fiscal year 2023, for our executive leadership team, our annual cash incentive award program included a 10% modifier tied to specific ESG initiatives.

Stakeholder Engagement. We highly value stakeholder input and have consistently demonstrated our commitment to maintaining open and interactive dialogue on ESG matters with our stakeholders, including non-governmental organizations, employees, stockholders, suppliers, industry groups, communities, and governments, to ensure their views are actively considered in executing our ESG program. Our stakeholder outreach program is led by a cross-functional team that includes members of our investor relations, compliance, sustainability, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and legal teams. Additionally, we actively engage with our employees to obtain valuable feedback and track progress, including through regular employee engagement surveys.

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 are the most relevant to our business, our operations, our stockholders, and the communities in which we operate. We are a member of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative. This membership requires an annual statement of progress, which is reflected in our Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report (Creating Change Report). Our CAO identifies specific SDGs established by the UNGC, which we adopt to guide our ESG strategy.

The following is a brief overview of our SDGs and related achievements during fiscal year 2023:

Environment Indicators

Many of our facilities were designed with sustainability in mind. Our corporate headquarters and our Moreno Valley, California, DC are Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified silver and our first Mooresville, Indiana, DC is LEED-certified gold. To further our commitment to monitoring the environmental performance of our supply chain partners, in fiscal year 2023 we began utilizing the HIGG Facility Environmental Module, a sustainability assessment tool used by our factory partners to collect detailed and standardized information about a partner’s waste, water, and energy consumption and identify and prioritize opportunities for sustainability performance improvements.

• Materials. We strive to maximize the amount of environmentally preferred materials (which we define as recycled, renewable, regenerated, and natural materials) in our products. Where possible, we utilize third-party certifications to assess our environmentally preferred materials, such as the Leather Working Group, Forest Stewardship Council, Responsible Wool Standard, and the Global Recycling Standard. During fiscal year 2023, we sourced all of our leather supplies used in our footwear from Leather Working Group-certified tanneries, which promote sustainable and environmentally friendly business practices within the leather industry. We also continue to utilize our third-party, science-based Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) tool to guide our brands toward leveraging preferred materials.

During fiscal year 2023, all wool used in our footwear products was sourced from preferred sources, including Responsible Wool Standard certified or upcycled from certain sheepskin product. We require our supply chain partners to comply with our Ethical Sourcing and Animal Welfare Policy and have amplified our requirements for leathers sourced from South America by implementing detailed traceability standards to address deforestation. In addition, we do not believe in the exploitation or killing of animals solely for the purpose of their fur. Our strict policy requires that we only use hides that are the byproduct of the meat industry and, in fiscal year 2023, we continued our evolution moving away from virgin wool by transitioning from UGGpure in support of UGGplush which utilizes TENCEL™ Lyocell rather than virgin wool.

Additionally, our brands continue to seek more preferred sources (either recycled or sugarcane) of EVA, and, during fiscal year 2023, we saw a significant increase in the use of preferred sources of EVA, largely influenced by the UGG brand’s decision to transition away from petroleum-based ethylene to sugarcane-based ethylene in certain high volume, classic silhouette styles.

• Waste. We aim to sustainably reduce waste generated at our facilities and partner facilities through reduction, recycling, and reuse. Our DCs in Moreno Valley, California, and Mooresville, Indiana, have undertaken efforts to become zero-waste facilities by calendar year 2023. Further, we have taken steps to remove most single-use plastic from our packaging at our corporate headquarters, strive to use minimal plastic in our product packaging, and have eliminated single-use plastic bags from our retail stores. We have also implemented tracking programs with the majority of our manufacturing partners to monitor waste generation and waste diversion methods, and we continue to monitor and engage with our supplier partners through our ongoing LCA outreach efforts.

*•*Water. We strive to mitigate water scarcity in the countries in which we operate by reducing water consumption and improving water quality throughout our operations. We monitor certain manufacturing and supply chain partners and have set water use reduction targets for each of them. We expect our partners to adhere to the highest standards of water efficiency and discharge.

*•*Chemistry. We seek to achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals and reduce the discharge of hazardous substances among our key business partners. Since fiscal year 2021, our Restricted Substances team manages and controls over 1,600 restricted substances and continues to explore cleaner chemistries where possible.

• Climate and Clean Energy. We aim to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions throughout our operations. We set ambitious Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon reduction targets filed with and approved by the Science-Based Targets initiative, which provides guidance to companies to set targets in line with the latest climate science. We have also engaged a third-party expert, Carbon Trust, to oversee our carbon accounting, and have collaborated with them to establish our carbon reduction targets. We are founders of the Savory Institute's Land to Market program, working to protect and reverse environmental degradation through regenerative farming practices. During fiscal year 2023, we established a long-term grant with Savory Institute to support regenerative farming practices on sheep farms in Australia, influencing over 300,000 acres and 80 farms.

Our brands are committed to sustainable business practices, embrace our sustainability targets, and work to launch sustainable collections. For example, the UGG brand’s Classic Mini Regenerate and Tasman Regenerate are crafted with raw materials from ranches that practice regenerative agriculture, a conservation and rehabilitation approach focused on topsoil regeneration, encouraging wildlife diversity, and supporting carbon capture in the ground. UGG also offers a consumer-facing repair service, UGGrenew, to extend the life of Classic Boots. The HOKA brand continues to focus on integrating more environmentally preferred materials in its footwear and apparel collections. Teva continues to work with TerraCycle® to give well-worn Teva sandals new life as downcycled materials. The Sanuk brand’s Veg Out Collection features 100% plant-based sneakers crafted using plant-based and recycled materials.

Social Indicators

• Gender Equality and Quality Education. We are committed to accelerating our DEI efforts to make a meaningful difference for our employees, our customers, and the communities in which we operate. During fiscal year 2023, we once again appeared on the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which helps bring transparency to gender-related practices and policies at publicly-listed companies around the world. 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. We also partner with Better Work to provide anti-harassment training to key supply chain partners and the International Labour Organization (ILO) training program covering topics such as international labour standards, social protection, social dialogue, innovation, gender equality and diversity, sustainable development, and the future of work. Our current goal is to empower 100,000 women through workplace-based education and training. Since setting our target in fiscal year 2020, we have empowered approximately 87,000 women through our engagement efforts and working with valued third-party programs, including HERproject, Better Work and the ILO. Further, each of our brands has committed to represent Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Allies (LGBTQIA+), and diverse body types and abilities in their marketing campaigns.

• Human Rights. We are committed to operating responsibly in the communities in which we operate, including encouraging industry leading human rights practices within our supply chain. We have established robust criteria in our Ethical Supply Chain Supplier Code of Conduct (Supplier Code of Conduct), based on ILO standards, which outlines our expectations for 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 for our business partners, which are regularly reviewed by our leadership team. Partners who underperform are placed on corrective action plans and monitored more frequently. We are members of the Transparency Pledge to promote a standard for supply chain disclosure in the garment and footwear industry. We publish a list 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 annual Creating Change Report for the year ended March 31, 2023, which will be published under the “Responsibility” tab of our website located at www.deckers.com, will provide more information regarding our fiscal year 2023 ESG achievements with a focus on the SDGs discussed above. We believe 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 Creating Change 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), and now part of the International Finance Reporting Standard (or IFRS) Foundation Consumer Goods Sector Apparel, Accessories and Footwear Index. The content of our website, including our Creating Change Report, is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report or in any other report or document we file with the SEC.

Human Capital - Our People and Our Culture

Employees**.** As of March 31, 2023, we employ approximately 4,200 employees (an increase of 11.2% compared to the prior period) in North America, Europe, and Asia. This includes approximately 1,500 employees in our retail stores worldwide, which excludes temporary and seasonal employees.

Culture**.** We strive to positively impact the world by uniting purposeful brands with diverse people driven to succeed and create change. Our key values, which guide our journey onward together to improve our business and create a better world around it, help hold us accountable to deliver on this purpose:

• Come as you are. Authentic employees create an authentic company.

• Better together. The power of independent spirit, united for a common goal.

• Commit to create. Curiosity fuels creativity, which in turn fuels innovation.

• Own it. We set high targets and hit them and take accountability when we don’t.

• Do good and do great. We act with integrity and humility and respect each other and our communities to drive a sustainable business.

Our values define our Company and serve as the driving force behind how we work together and work with customers, consumers, partners, suppliers, and communities. We also have detailed ethics and compliance policies that support our 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 a 24/7 online or telephone hotline hosted by an independent third-party provider.

At Deckers, we believe our culture makes us unique. We regularly conduct employee surveys to understand our employee’s experiences on a variety of topics focused on employee engagement. Our latest survey completed in February 2023 had a participation rate of 88%. Of those employees who completed the survey, 87% noted they were proud to work for Deckers.

Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion**.** We promote DEI and believe that creating a diverse and inclusive workplace is critical to ensuring all of our employees can come as they are and bring their authentic selves to work each day. We believe the inclusion of diverse perspectives, and amplifying voices of underrepresented communities brings a unique set of experiences, opinions, and thoughts on critical issues that help enhance our business and drive better outcomes. To that end, as of March 31, 2023, our Board of Directors is comprised of a total of ten directors, 60% of whom are from underrepresented communities. Further, as of March 31, 2023, over 24% of our director-level and above employees in the US are from BIPOC communities, which represents an increase of over 3% compared to fiscal year 2022 and an overall increase of more than 12% since fiscal year 2020. Further, during fiscal year 2023, 45% of all new hires reporting into the US corporate office and call center were from BIPOC communities. At Deckers, we strive to have gender parity in leadership positions and our Board of Directors. As of March 31, 2023, over 49% of our director-level and above employees are female and 40% of the members of our Board of Directors are female.

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Our Code of Ethics, on which we train our employees biennially, as well as our annual Creating Change Report, codifies these values and our commitment to DEI. We have a robust collection of programs designed to support creating a more inclusive workplace, as well as policies and practices aimed at increasing diversity. We have implemented a comprehensive, global strategy for DEI, including the following:

• Our brands have committed to having at least 60% of individuals in our marketing campaigns represent the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities and diverse body types and abilities.

• We have created a framework for the creation of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which are formed around common interests, backgrounds, or characteristics, including gender, race, ethnicity, and other affinities. We have ten ERGs as of March 31, 2023.

• We have deployed mandatory annual anti-racism and implicit bias training, as well as a suite of additional learning and development resources available to employees, including Inclusive Interviewing and Selection for managers, Disability Awareness & Inclusion, and Applying DEI Practices to Product Lifecycle, among others aimed at increasing employee acumen about DEI-focused topics.

• We have a global mentorship program to help provide our existing talent with networking and engagement opportunities.

Charitable Giving and Volunteering. Our charitable contributions, product donations, and employee volunteer efforts are an essential part of our culture. We annually contribute to our local communities through monetary donations, volunteer efforts, and in-kind donations. During fiscal year 2023, we donated over $4,000 to various non-profit organizations around the globe, primarily to organizations focused on DEI initiatives, environmental impact mitigation, and community support. We also continued our ‘Art of Kindness’ events, where employees volunteer during a week-long event in our local communities multiple times during the fiscal year. Our employees volunteered approximately 15,000 hours in fiscal year 2023. Our strategic giving and community-engagement efforts continued to be aligned with our SDGs, including DEI, the environment, uplifting 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 calendar year and offer incentives for payments to employees’ charity of choice when achieving 100 hours of volunteer time in a calendar 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, connection, and opportunities for development. For example, we offer a week fully dedicated to employee learning, connection, and development across the globe (Explore Week), a monthly global employee gathering dedicated to peer sharing and learning about different parts of the organization and careers in each space (Biz Breaks), and a global leadership development program for new leaders (Trailblazers). Our leadership team also mentors rising talent on a formal and informal basis, which we believe accelerates the development and engagement of our top performers, increases organizational learning, and improves employee performance and retention. Further, our executive leadership team and Board of Directors commits substantial time to succession planning, evaluating the bench strength of our leadership and supporting their career development while seeking to improve organizational performance. We are proud to offer a wide range of programs intended to support global employee development and retention.

We have demonstrated a history of investing in our workforce by offering competitive salaries and wages, and annual increases based on merit, as well as annual cash bonus compensation, which is based on Company and individual performance. We provide tuition reimbursement for eligible US employees up to $5 thousand per calendar year. Further, to foster a stronger sense of ownership and align the interests of management with stockholders,

time-based restricted stock units and long-term incentive plan performance stock units are granted to a substantial proportion of our leadership team under our stock-based compensation programs. In addition, employees across the US business have the opportunity to purchase stock at a discounted price through our Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Further, we engage an independent compensation consultant, FW Cook, which provides us with information to evaluate the effectiveness of our executive compensation program, including competitive pay practices and trends in our industry, the design and structure of our executive compensation program, as well as the formulation of and benchmarking against our peers within our 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 including parental leave, mental health benefits, and other voluntary benefits such as health savings accounts or our recently adopted solar and electric car reimbursement program. We also provide resources to support our many employees who work from home as part of our new flexible work model, including equipment and furniture for their home office setup and workshops and tools for leading remote teams.

Employee Health and Safety**.** The health and safety of our employees is our highest priority. We have comprehensive safety training programs to help ensure our employees know how to do their jobs safely and in compliance with laws and regulations. We prioritize the safety of our facilities and work to ensure they are modern and efficient.

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 have historically significantly exceeded our aggregate net sales in the quarters ending March 31st and June 30th. However, 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 have seen and expect to continue to see the impact from seasonality decrease over time. However, our seasonality has been impacted by supply chain challenges and it is unclear whether these impacts will be minimized or exaggerated in future periods as a result of these disruptions.

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 discussion of the impacts of seasonality and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations.

Competition

The industry and 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 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 of supply chain disruptions, among others. In addition, we believe 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 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 by UGG,” “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, 2023, we hold 190 designs and inventions with corresponding design or utility patent registrations, plus 62 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 material corporate governance and responsibility documents available through our website: Audit & Risk Management Committee Charter, Talent & Compensation Committee Charter, Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability, & Governance Committee Charter, Code of Ethics, Creating Change Report, Accounting and Finance Code of Ethics, and Corporate Governance Guidelines. 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.