etnies Girl Grows Team to Keep Up
Betting that the strength of the girls’ action sports market is here to stay, etnies Girl has added five new members to its team to keep up with the brand’s strong sales and new product offerings. The Lake Forest, Calif.–based manufacturer of girls’ action sports apparel, footwear and accessories is a division of Sole Technology Inc. The brand was launched in 1998 and experienced a 23 percent increase in global sales last year, the company said.
The design team has two new additions. Former head juniors’ designer for Irvine, Calif.–based Ezekiel Clothing, Eunjoo Kim, has joined etnies Girl as the brand’s new apparel designer. Kim has also worked at Costa Mesa, Calif.–based Paul Frank Industries Inc. and Split, in Irvine, Calif. Mathilde Evrard has relinquished her duties as the brand’s accessories designer to join the etnies Girl footwear design team, responsible for shoes and sandals as well as girls’ technical snowboard boots for ThirtyTwo, a division of parent company Sole Technology.
Tammy Checkwood joins the brand as the new surf product manager, overseeing the complete line of sandals for girls and men.
Formerly at Santa Fe Springs, Calif.–based Vans Inc., Checkwood was also a member of the product development team at footwear maker Reef, in San Diego, Calif.
Julie Shumaker has been hired as the brand’s marketing manager and has the task of creating synergy among the brand’s departments and facilitating brand strategy. Shumaker was formerly the director of marketing at the popular Costa Mesa, Calif.–based specialty retail projects The LAB and The CAMP. Julie Gormick joins the team as the brand’s domestic sales manager.
“The global momentum of etnies Girl has been tremendous, and with the increased focus and specialization, we expect to take things to completely new levels,” said Don Brown, senior vice president of marketing, in a statement. —Erin Barajas
