California Apparel News

Exhibitors and retailers attending Surf Expo from Jan. 8–10 in Orlando, Fla., reported good business despite a number of setbacks for the surf-and-coastal-lifestyle show. Earthquakes in Puerto Rico cut down the sizable delegation of Puerto Rican retailers that typically attend. The January edition was also the first Surf Expo since the show’s September 2019 run was canceled when Hurricane Dorian threatened to batter Florida’s Atlantic coastline.

It was only the second time in Surf Expo’s 42-year history that the show was canceled due to extreme weather. The first was in September 2017, when another hurricane threatened the state, said Roy Turner, a senior vice president of Emerald Expositions, which owns Surf Expo.

For the recent show, 1,000 vendors exhibited a giant selection of items ranging from boardshorts and bikinis to surfboards, jewelry and wellness products, Turner said. Booth space was sold out at the 220,000-square-foot hall where Surf Expo does business at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center. And despite the setbacks, retailer attendance increased 6 percent over the previous January’s show.

While some top surf-and-action-sports brands such as Quik­silver, RVCA, Rip Curl and Volcom were no-shows at this Surf Expo, it continues to be a must-attend event, said Bob Abdel, a partner and buyer for the influential surf shop Jack’s Surfboards in Huntington Beach, Calif.

“It is the only show left for us,” Abdel said of his category of core surf shops. “We don’t have a surf show in California. We have to travel all the way to Orlando to talk to people about business and put together a plan for the year.”

Abel’s buying list ranged from surfboards and wetsuits to T-shirts and boardshorts. He reported taking meetings with representatives of some of his store’s most popular brands. He also reported making a test order for apparel from Barracuda, a fishing brand, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla. Jack’s also continues to do good business with Salty Crew, another fishing-lifestyle label.

Surf Diva, a retailer headquartered in La Jolla, Calif., shopped brands and also met with representatives of private-label manufacturers. Surf Diva was looking to build its in-store brands such as its namesake brand, Surf Diva, American Surf Academy and La Jolla Surf Camp, said Coco Tihanyi, a co-founder of the shop. She also noted some trends that she saw on the trade-show floor.

“Color blocking is trending for this summer. Logos are smaller. Batik prints, sequins and animal prints have been popular,” she said. She saw a lot of apparel made from organic cotton colored with organic dyes, as well as materials inspired by other sustainable practices. Also seen on the show floor were capsule collections produced in the colors of the American flag. These collections will celebrate the USA Surfing team during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Surfwear brands anticipate increased business and increased interest due to the Olympics. “It will be a boost. It will bring surfing to televisions everywhere,” Tihanyi said.

Other California retailers seen at Surf Expo included Sun Diego of San Diego. And a significant number of attendees are located on the eastern seaboard, including Ron Jon in Florida and Coastal Edge in Virginia Beach, Va. Turner also said there was a delegation from the Caribbean plus Latin America and other overseas retailers. Buyers from Macy’s also walked the show.

Todd Kellogg exhibited his Lira brand, based in Anaheim, Calif. He said that his business at the show benefited from pent-up demand. “It seemed a bit bigger than normal because of the hurricane,” he said.

He reported meeting 60 accounts during the show. Lira introduced three new lines. The first was the sustainable line Recycle or Die.Lira also introduced a second line called Lira Essentials, a 60-piece basics line. The third debut was a 12-piece collaboration line that the label designed with model and skateboarder Hilary Shanks, Lira x Hilary Shanks.

Patricia Thornton made her trade-show debut for the Los Angeles–headquartered Psycho Tuna label. She and her company, Ring of Fire, had intended to introduce the label at the September Surf Expo. However, she felt that the brand did not miss a step in sales. Psycho Tuna exhibited Fall 2020 styles. Also unveiled was the label’s Summer season, which was intended to be introduced at the September show.

“It was really busy,” she said. “We’d get there at 8:45 a.m. and we’d see lots of buyers.” Like any other trade show, this one had peaks and valleys. Traffic was steady the first day. The second day was really busy, the last day was slower, but she reported taking meetings until the show closed.

The recent Surf Expo also marked the first trade show where the new Hurley exhibited its new looks. Nike Inc. sold Hurley, a leading brand, to the Bluestar Agency, a brand-management company, for an undisclosed amount in October. There was a change in guard for the brand, and the executives who led the brand before the sale, including members of the Hurley family, the namesake of the label, were no longer connected with the brand.

The show also represented new opportunities for smaller brands, said Greg Weisman, an attorney at Ritholz Levy Fields LLP, who represents many board-sports clients. “The small, independent core brands that used to define the space—and lost it to the larger public company players—now have an opportunity to take market share from the big companies that were not at the show,” he said.