Back on Board: Split Clothing
Split Clothing, the pioneering boardsport lifestyle brand based in Orange County, has relaunched in the United States after a two-year hiatus.
Known for its progressive approach to style, the brand maintains its action-sports roots but has updated its look for today’s market. The new line debuted at the recent Agenda trade show in Anaheim, Calif., with positive feedback from buyers and press.
The brand previously was licensed by the now-defunct Rays Apparel Inc. Last May, Life Distribution LLC, which owns Ambiguous Clothing, acquired sole ownership of the once $30 million brand.
David Patri, owner and president of Life Distribution and one of the original founders of Split, believes the brand’s more than 20-year foothold in the market will propel it forward. “I’m ecstatic to have the brand under the Life Distribution LLC umbrella,” Patri said in a statement. “The brand is as relevant as ever. It always had a ’push the limits’ quality about it that attracted the forward customer,” he said.
Relaunching Split is a great opportunity to update the brand for today’s market. “We kept the brand identity somewhat the same. We didn’t want to come out and confuse people. But at the same time, we wanted to fast forward to, boom, 2011,” Patri said. “Here’s what’s relevant. Here’s what is forward thinking for a lifestyle brand now and not waste any time with reliving the past.”
The men’s collection relaunched for Spring 2011 and Split Girls for Fall 2011. The collections are very separate entities—even from the beginning. Where the men’s collection is more boardsports-oriented, the girl’s line is primarily fashion-focused.
The brand, which was founded in 1988 by design students in San Luis Obispo, Calif., was known as the first cross boardsport brand. It had history and a big following in many different sports such as skate boarding, surfing, BMX, moto cross and wake boarding. The brand pioneered progressive design by applying graphics to skateboards, surfboards and T-shirts and took inspiration from their skate and surf team riders.
In the mid 2000s, Split grew with global distribution and was licensed in Brazil, Canada, Europe and the United States. The label has remained vibrant outside the United States over the last two years.
Today, the focus of the men’s collection is to be a full-on lifestyle brand encompassing action sports, surf, skate and music. The vibe is comparable to other core youth-culture brands such as RVCA, Element, Obey and Insight that are more forward-thinking and edgy with slim fits, hip styling and attention to detail.
Key items include knits, chinos, swim chinos, twill pants, and denim. Jackets vary from leather moto jackets to trenches and car coats. Board shorts are functional with four-way stretch and fashion-forward with unique prints that feature a combination of photo imagery, textures and color.
Wholesale pricing is competitive at $33 to $36 for denim; $26 to $30 for board shorts; $21 for long-sleeve wovens; $19 to $20 for knits; $34 to $36 for fleece; and $34 for jackets.
Split Girls will continue its focus as a fashion-forward lifestyle brand. The juniors line, which launched in 1999, was one of the first action-sports lines to embrace fashion. “I think the Split Girl from the past ... really paved the way for a lot of the other action-sports brands to become more fashion-oriented,” Patri said. Girls could suddenly wear the clothes and not have to ride a surf board just to wear popular surf and skate brands.
For the relaunch, the line is taking an even stronger fashion stance with a trendy item-driven collection that fits its edgy, art-inspired persona. It will include four full collections a year including swim and accessories, a key focal point for the collection. Swimwear, formerly licensed by Manhattan Beachwear, was brought back in-house and relaunched for Spring 2011. The line has been updated with smaller fits and styling tailored to the juniors market.
The Fall 2011 collection is on trend, combining classic style with vintage inspiration, strong silhouettes, prints and color. The new accessories line is extensive with everything from backpacks and overnight bags to purses, clutches and wallets.
All the prints work back to the apparel line and even some into the swim. “It’s very on-point not only for our industry, but for just an easy fashion collection in general,” Patri explained.
“There’s no fluff really,” Patri added. “And there have been people telling us, ’Hey, where’s your basics? Where’s this? Where’s that?’ And it’s like, ’Hey, that’s not what we want to be known for.’”
With its roots in swim and surf, the brand will focus on distribution in surf shops and select retailers while also expanding into fashion boutiques. Wholesale price points are $20 to $30 for dresses, $19 to $25 for skirts, $12 to $16 for knits, $40 for chunky sweaters and $25 to $27 for sweater knits.
“It’s being really well received,” Patri said of the collection’s debut at Agenda. “We got a lot of ’Wows’ at the show. People were really excited, and people were writing paper right there, which I haven’t seen for a while.”—N. Jayne Seward
