Tavik Partners With Incipio
Fashion and swimwear brand Tavik, based in Southern California’s Orange County, has a new home—and possibly more—in the offices of Incipio, an Irvine, Calif.–based designer and manufacturer of accessories for mobile devices.
For the past six weeks, Tavik founder Erik Paulsen has been telling reporters that the label had been acquired, but he would not confirm which company had acquired the men’s and women’s fashion label, which manufactures everything from bikinis to fashion hoodies.
A recent visit to Incipio headquarters confirmed Tavik’s move to the accessories designer’s building in an office park in Irvine.
The two labels also announced plans to collaborate creatively. In January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Incipio and Tavik debuted a co-branded line of accessories for Apple mobile devices. “By incorporating our quality cases with Tavik’s inventive designs, we have come up with a product that is truly unique,” said Andy Fathollahi, Incipio’s chief executive.
Paulsen did not answer calls requesting comment on Tavik’s new partner. Incipio employs 140 people and designs cases for iPhone4, iPad2 and MacBook devices. Tavik’s bikinis were recently featured in Sports Illustrated.
Since its founding in 2004, Tavik has been sold at surf and skate–friendly retailers such as Tilly’s, Pacific Sunwear and Jack’s Surfboards and at fashion stores such as American Rag Cie. In 2010, Tavik partnered with the estate of iconic actor John Wayne for a line of boardshorts featuring a graphic of Wayne in a cowboy hat and with an Old West–style gun belt just below the waistline.—A.A.
