California Apparel News

From the stacks of surfboards in the lobby and the waiters handing out cold beer during check-in to the tequila shots downed by winners and presenters during the Image Awards, everything about the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association’s 10th annual Surf Summit felt like business as usual—for the surf industry, at least.

Living up to their renegade reputation, 360 surf-industry figures—including company heads, lawyers, retailers and philanthropists—continued to put their own spin on the annual education and networking event, held May 16–19 at the Royal Solaris Los Cabos hotel.

Still, despite the mornings left free for surfing and evenings that turned into late-night parties, Surf Summit also put a heavy focus on education. Afternoons were dedicated to learning about everything from preserving the environment to new industry statistics and why iconic surf brands died.

Speakers included MTV researcher and Director of Insights Gonzalo Perez, brand strategist and conceptual designer for retail Kevin Kelley, former Starbucks and Whole Foods marketer John Moore, and behavioral market research and management expert Paco Underhill.

Reinventing the wave

After years of struggling with the issues of how to control growth and retain authenticity (last year, one speaker recommended closing surf schools and banning amateurs from prime surf spots), Summit attendees this year focused on finding innovative ways to better understand their consumers, developing competitive advantages and building stronger brands.

“These subjects are really important for the industry, as we are all responsible for growing and protecting surfing and action sports without compromising the core spirit,” said Don Brown, senior vice president of marketing for skate brand Sole Technology, based in Lake Forest, Calif. “I know I learned a lot from each of the speakers and will be incorporating various speaker perspectives into the future Sole Technology strategies.”

That’s not to say the surf industry has trumped its competition. “Our competition is outside this room,” said Dick Baker, SIMA’s president. He was referring to mainstream brands such as the much-maligned Hollister, a New Albany, Ohio– based retailer of surf-inspired apparel with more ties to corporate America than to the surf culture. “Reinvention is how to protect our dollar.”

Reinvention was a recurring theme for the event. “Getting everyone to expand their minds and learn something new is the main priority,” Baker said.

Speaker Kevin Kelley reminded attendees that while they are the “center” of the surf industry, when the competition begins encroaching, “sometimes you have to move the center.”

That means outpacing the pretenders by continually tapping into the core surf community, producing innovative product and finding ways to reach untapped demographics.

One way for brands to expand their circle of influence is in the relatively level playing field of the Internet. MTV’s Perez suggested revamping company Web sites to interact with and engage the technology-addicted young consumer. Creating an online destination where surfers can post videos, participate in discussions and purchase goods, he said, can help galvanize support and create a community around a brand. The idea of creating flashy sites may seem unsavory for some brands, but Perez insisted that as a primarily youth-driven market, surf has “to stay tapped in with youth and evolve with them.”

A cautionary tale

Michael Tomson, founder of the 1980s juggernaut Gotcha, and his proteacute;geacute;, retailer Shaheen Sadeghi of The Lab and The Camp shopping centers, discussed the demise of the brand. In the ’80s, it was the first to expand surf apparel beyond shorts and T-shirts into fashion, denim and juniors apparel.

“Gotcha failed because we went to $120 million in seven years. It was too much too soon—no experience and no financial wherewithal,” Tomson told a ballroom packed with company heads who hoped to mimic Gotcha’s success and avoid its pitfalls. Perry Ellis International Inc. in Miami acquired the trademark in 2006.

Built on an edgy, uber-core mentality with innovative product (Sadeghi described watching workers spray-paint boardshorts in the parking lot), Gotcha stumbled and went bust when it became sales-driven, not brand-driven, Tomson said. That’s a danger many brands face today, he added. As the surf industry becomes more mainstream, brands can become diluted and kill what the surf industry stands for, he said.

“We like to imagine that we are the rebels, the youth against establishment. But we are the establishment. No one is putting themselves on the line anymore. We need to be more creative in our [product] and merchandising and advertising,” Tomson said. “We need to do something special, and it can start with this conference. Let’s get some rock ’n’ roll in now and make sure the Hollisters continue to chase us.”

For the young brands trying for a piece of the surf pie, Tomson had a few choice bits of advice, including don’t sell to big chains, launch with a few categories and master them before expanding offerings, keep overhead costs low and hire good people.

The key to success in the surf industry, according to Tomson, is resolving the Catch-22 that has plagued the surf industry since brands such as Gotcha made it big. “Size is the enemy of cool. Once everybody wears [something], it’s just not cool. The problem is, kids are always looking for the new thing, and the danger is if they can’t find it in our industry, they’ll go somewhere else,” he said.

Image awards

The SIMA Image Awards closed the summit on Friday night.

Future Systems’ Vector Tech Foils won “Accessory Product of the Year”; Vans’ slip-on shoe won “Footwear Product of the Year”; the Flexwire by Firewire won “Surfboard Model of the Year”; Xcel’s Infiniti Series won “Wetsuit of the Year”; Billabong Juniors won “Women’s Ad Campaign of the Year”; Insight won “Men’s Ad Campaign of the Year”; Billabong’s “Andy Irons Rising Sun” boardshort won “Men’s Boardshort of the Year”; Volcom won “Men’s Apparel Brand of the Year”; L*Space won “Women’s Swim Brand of the Year”; Volcom Girls won “Women’s Apparel Brand of the Year”; Vestal Watch won “Breakthrough Brand of the Year”; and Billabong USA won “Company of the Year.”

News bits

bull;Surf continues to swell. According to SIMA’s “2006 Retail Distribution Study,” the core surf and skate business grew 13.1 percent from 2004 to 2006. In 2004, the core surf and skate market stood at $4.87 billion and grew to $5.51 billion in 2006.

bull;Surf Expo in Orlando, Fla., will return to a three-day format in January after testing a four-day format.

bull;SIMA announced a new seminar series slated to begin in October. The one-day events will feature 30-minute seminars targeted at surf manufacturers and retailers. The local seminars will be held in Laguna Beach or Huntington Beach, Calif.

bull;SIMA announced a new industry public-relations campaign that will include garnering exposure for the surf industry in non-industry-related publications and media channels.

bull;The Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo announced a new eco-friendly initiative, which includes a renewable-energy offset program, recycled aisle carpet, recycled-paper badges and show bags, and more online services to cut down on use of printed paper. In other ASR news, organizers said the Thursday-through-Saturday format, which garnered good reviews at the January show, will become permanent. A new skate hard-goods zone will be featured at the September ASR show in San Diego.