California Apparel News

The newest women’s label in the surf industry will be run by an all-star team.

It was announced on Jan. 6 that top women’s beach and surfwear designers Mandy Fry and Summer Rapp will partner with Paul Naude, former president of the Americas division of Billabong International Ltd., to develop an as-yet-unnamed women’s lifestyle brand.

Fry and Rapp will lead the new brand as co-presidents. Naude will serve as chief executive officer. The label will be managed by Naude’s new company, Stokehouse Unlimited, which is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif. Naude will be introducing a men’s surf brand, Vissla, and eyewear brand D’Blanc through Stokehouse.

Rapp said that Naude will provide the operational know-how to support their new brand. “Partnering up with Paul for financial and operational support is instrumental in making this dream a reality,” Rapp said. “With his passion and vast experience in the California lifestyle business, we’re equipped to design, market and deliver all-around quality product.”

The new brand will focus on swimwear, coverups and sportswear. It will take a formal bow at the next run of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Swim in Miami, Fla., in July. It then will exhibit shortly after at prominent trade shows Surf Expo and Agenda.

Rapp, Fry and Naude will stress a fresh perspective in their new company. “The brand’s leadership will place a large emphasis on creativity and a healthy working culture that inspires new ideas and a fresh ‘outside-of-the-industry’ perspective,” a company statement noted.

The trio of leaders for the new brand have been stars of the surf industry and have worked closely with each other in the past. In the 1990s, Rapp and Fry worked in design at Quiksilver Inc. in Huntington Beach, Calif. Fry later directed women’s fashions at Billabong, where she worked with Naude.

During Fry’s Billabong stint, the label’s bikinis were featured in the high-profile 2012 and 2013 swimwear issues of Sports Illustrated. The label also was honored with the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association’s Image Award for “Women’s Apparel Brand of the Year” in 2010 and 2011.

In May 2013, Fry made headlines for leaving Billabong to helm women’s design at Volcom Inc., where she served as vice president of women’s, which was a new position at the company. She left that job in December to start her new venture.