Hurley's High-End Move
After dipping a toe into the boutique market, Hurley is taking serious strides toward offering more high-end, fashion-forward apparel for men and women.
In January, the Costa Mesa, Calif.–based surf/skate brand debuted select fashion-forward pieces for both sexes at the Surf Expo trade show in Orlando, Fla. Now, the reaction to those pieces proved strong enough to warrant the hiring of two design and branding executives whose expertise lies in the premium-denim and sportswear markets. In June, John Cherpas, co-founder and former designer of the premium-denim and sportswear brand Grass Jeans, and Adrian Nyman, designer of a luxury capsule collection for Indigo Farm as well as the Warhol Factory X Levi’s X Damien Hirst collection, joined Hurley to update and elevate the brand. Cherpas will act as Hurley’s senior vice president of design. Nyman will occupy the newly created post of vice president of brand image.
“The idea is to take the Hurley brand and take it to a broader customer base” by focusing on fashion-forward, boutique-friendly design, Cherpas said. Earlier this year, the company debuted pieces such as leather vests and silk dresses for women and super-clean denim and slim wovens for men that Hurley has landed in boutiques such as Lisa Kline and American Rag. “That’s a big deal for a surf brand,” Cherpas said—and they want more.
“We are working toward building an audience that is beyond the industry. Across the board, across all categories, Hurley is reaching for that 18-year-old customer—versus the 15-year-old customer,” Cherpas said. “With the response that we got from our first attempt at elevated product, it proved it was time for a big push. Now that we know that audience is listening and liking that sort of product, it is time to make it even better.”
Toward that end, Cherpas will oversee a tiered design process for Hurley that keeps the core components surf/skate retailers rely on and adds more contemporary fashion at a higher price point. Details are still hazy on how exactly Hurley will develop, price and brand the up-market collection, but Cherpas and Nyman say the inspiration for the line comes from within the Hurley core culture. “The brand DNA is ripe to lend us ideas and vision. There is so much going on behind the scenes; we’re just going to bring that forward,” Nyman said. “We’re taking Hurley’s core connectivity with the youth culture and accenting what they’ve started.”
Complementing Hurley’s aspirations are Cherpas’ and Nyman’s upscale backgrounds. “I have a strong denim background, which is something that I will certainly be using to create a great denim package for Hurley. My focus is to create a cohesive brand with a contemporary edge,” Cherpas said. One of the first things the brand will do to communicate with specialty retailers is to host a runway presentation during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Los Angeles at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif., later this year.
Nyman, whose background is also in contemporary and premium design, won’t work in a design capacity but will rather focus on the brand’s marketing going forward. “I’ll be working with the brand’s executive team to position the brand. Basically, I’ll be handling all facets of how the brand is perceived and make sure we convey a consistent message about what Hurley is and stands for,” said Nyman, who found his way into the premium market from the action-sports arena. “I got my start in action sports. To come back now is very interesting because I have a deep understanding of a more upscale market and can combine that with my knowledge of the youth and sports aspects of the [surf/skate] industry. It’s exciting to be able to bring the last 10 years of my experience into the action-sports market.”
Hurley isn’t the first brand to court boutique business. Edgy skate/surf brands such as RVCA, Altamont and Insight have successfully straddled the line between core brand and fashion brand. Hurley will show its expanding upscale offerings at the MAGIC Marketplace Aug. 25–27 in Las Vegas inside the new SLATE show-with-in-a-show.
