California Apparel News

ORLANDO, FLA.—Fresh styles and a new buyer-friendly format at the Jan. 10–12 run of Surf Expo, held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., gave exhibitors and retailers a much needed boost for Spring business.

Surf Expo’s new layout included the addition of two sections: Action Girl, a Covina, Calif.–based action-sports trade show for juniors, and Club Level, a high-end swimwear and resortwear section. The addition of both sections, which occupied roughly 60,000 square feet, created a cohesive format for the show’s buyers and provided lots of energy on the floor.

“It’s our way of focusing on the growing girls’ and women’s segment of the market and getting our exhibitor categories organized as we position ourselves for growth,” said Surf Expo Vice President Lori Kisner.

The three-day show featured men’s, women’s and children’s apparel; swimwear; resortwear; accessories; and hard goods.

The show had 2,200 booths with 950 exhibitors, compared with 850 exhibitors last year. Buyer attendance was on par with last year’s turnout, according to officials at DMG World Media, producer of Surf Expo. DMG declined to give specific attendance numbers.

Buyers from Ron Jon Surf Shops, 17th Street Surf Shops, Becker Surf and Sports and Jack’s Surf Boards mostly placed orders for Summer merchandise and stuck with reliable resources, opting to reserve their dollars for reorders in case business picks up during spring break.

East Coast retailers were particularly cautious. The weather will be a crucial indicator of future sales, they said.

Virginia Beach, Va.–based 17th Street Surf Shops shopped Surf Expo with a budget that was up by about 15 percent, mainly because the retailer’s private-label collection saw strong sellouts last year, said buyer Sabrina Lola.

Unpredictable rainstorms, which plagued the East Coast for 15 consecutive weeks last spring, presented a challenge for retailers. However, sales during Christmas break, which are typically on par with spring break sales, were up about 20 percent, Lola said.

Lola’s core resources are Billabong, O’Neill, Hurley, Rusty and Lost Industries. She found newness in color schemes and fabrications but stuck with familiar silhouettes, including strappy summer dresses and loose-fitting miniskirts.

Kelly Wood, owner of Woody’s Surf and Skate—a men’s and women’s apparel, swimwear and hard goods specialty store in North Wildwood, N.J.—shopped for Spring and Summer goods with a budget that was down 30 percent from last year’s.

“The sun is going to affect our business in a big way,” she said. “We’re just hoping to have [strong] sell-throughs.”

Action-sports giants Billabong, Quiksilver Inc. and the Ocean Pacific Apparel Corp. reported strong traffic at their booths. Men’s boardshorts, tri-blend walking shorts, woven shirts and button- up plaid shirts with embroidered logos were hot sellers.

In the juniors category, the emphasis shifted from traditional surfroots styles—such as screen-printed T-shirts and boardshorts—to more fashion-forward looks. That metamorphosis was evident at Action Girl, which featured about 100 exhibitors and more than 100 lines, including L*Space, Gidget, Surf Chick, Dollhouse, WaterGirl and Girl Star. Action Girl’s 60,000- square-foot exhibitor space also had a tiki lounge and a half-pipe vert ramp that doubled as a fashion runway. Action Girl—which typically shows juniors apparel, swimwear and hard goods at trade shows nationwide— softened its core offerings at Surf Expo, according to Jaime Sparks, founder and producer.

“Surf Expo already has all of the staple [brands] that have crossed into the women’s market,” she said. “Besides, the young women’s core market is not really about performance. It’s about feeling good about what you’re wearing. That’s what we’re representing here.”

Fashion forward

In previous years, skate and snowboard companies dominated the market. However, with people paying close attention to surf lifestyles—particularly on television with shows such as Fox’s “54321” and “The O.C.” and MTV Networks’ “Beach House”—there is a strong demand for surfwear.

And surfwear companies are producing apparel to accommodate those lifestyles. Several juniors companies took their cues from sportswear by adding bright, colorful pieces with plenty of feminine details to their lines. Bikinis in polka-dot and tie-dyed fabrications; tops, miniskirts and halter dresses made with jersey fabric; and floral cotton poplin tops and bottoms were at the tops of buyers’ lists.

For Summer 2004, juniors surf companies showed a mix of influences that ranged from punk rock to preppy and feminine to core.

Billabong showed its rebel side with striped convertible miniskirts with contrast folds over waistbands and soft babyknit jersey tops with herringbone straps.

Cotton dobby voile tank tops, woven button-up shirts with floral embroidery and stretch-twill trousers brought out O’Neill’s preppy side.

Rusty’s Summer 2004 line offers polka-dot halter tops with crochet necklines, ruffled miniskirts with hibiscus prints, boardshorts and raglan-sleeve rash guards with logos. Additionally, the Irvine, Calif.–based company added smaller cuts to its swimwear offerings, which included a black-and-white checkered Brazilian bikini, done American style.

Incorporating Rusty’s core ethos into its feminine juniors line is a formula that has worked well for the company. Recently, the company changed its juniors logo to duplicate its young men’s logo—giving the juniors line a harder edge.

“Most of our juniors customers aren’t responding to the cute little girly logos anymore,” said Gina Rolle, Rusty girls’ national sales manager.