Swell Launches Private-Label Collection
Shoppers will find a new brand in Swell’s summer 2008 catalog.
The San Clemente, Calif.–based catalog and online surf/skate retailer has built its reputation on its spot-on buys from emerging and established action-sports brands season after season. Now, with the launch of W/O, its new private-label collection, Swell will add its own take on fashion to the mix.
W/O, which soft-launched its men’s and women’s apparel with the Fall 2007 season, debuted with a greater focus for 2008 as part of the catalog’s new Alt_Brands platform, a section that spotlights unique surf styles from up-and-coming and veteran brands alike.
Strictly a surf-inspired brand, W/O offers a cleaner, more sophisticated interpretation of the lifestyle than some of the industry’s more juniors- or young men’s–focused brands. Guys get fitted, cream-colored thermals, slim seersucker walkshorts, vintage-inspired chinos, crisp woven shirts and T-shirts with minimal graphics. Girls get long chino shorts, dresses made of two-ply woven cotton and garment-washed cotton T-shirts with shirt collars. Retail prices run $24 for T-shirts, $45 to $48 for shorts, $60 for sweaters, $52 for chinos, $55 for boardshorts, $84 for a quilted jacket and $45 to $54 for dresses.
Mark Elder, Swell’s chief operating officer, said the company approached W/O not as a “house brand” but as a way to offer high-quality products with a clean, vintage aesthetic that other brands weren’t touching. To that end, Swell partnered with companies such as Olah Inc., a New York–based textile and apparel manufacturer agent. The tightly edited collection (there will be only two seasons per year, each with 20 pieces) will represent a small percentage of Swell’s merchandise mix, but Elder said the clean, mid-’60s vibe will help it stand out.
“The current market is putting such a heavy emphasis on design embellishment and allover prints. W/O is very minimal. There are no logos; it’s very austere,” he said. Graphics are limited to text; colors and silhouettes are classic; and prints are limited to stripes, plaids and polka-dots. “Overall, W/O is a little more grown-up, a little more sophisticated. It’ll appeal to shoppers at the older, more fashion-focused end of the spectrum.”
Elder said the move from retailer to manufacturer was precipitated by shifts in the surf industry. “Not only are more and more surf shops starting online components, but brands like Quiksilver are now selling direct,” he said, adding that distribution channels for surf brands are also growing, with some brands even popping up in such unlikely places as Zappos.com and Amazon.com. “We felt it was important to have a point of differentiation and have product that isn’t available anywhere else.”
Cary Allington, co-founder of Action Watch, a surf/skate industry firm that compiles retail and market data, said private-label brands aren’t unique in the surf/skate market—but Swell’s approach is.
“It is very common for surf/skate retailers to have private-label brands, but for the most part, these programs consist of T-shirts branded with the shop’s name. In this industry, it’s important for retailers to brand themselves.” Allington said he couldn’t think of another independent surf retailer that has launched its own fashion collection. “Most core retailers simply can’t fulfill the minimums such a project would require. They’d have to pool their resources with other retailers to be able to do something on that scale.” —Erin Barajas
