ISSUE #078. AUGUST/ SEPTEMBER 2015. €5
WILCO PRINS RIP CURL CEO SKATEBOARDING’S LOST GENERATION SUP FOCUS & RED PADDLE’S JOHN HIBBARD BRAND PROFILES, BUYER SCIENCE & MUCH MORE.
TREND REPORTS: ACTION CAMS & ACCESSORIES, ACTIVEWEAR, LONGBOARDS, LUGGAGE & RUCKSACKS, SUNGLASSES, SUP, SURF APPAREL, WATCHES, WETSUITS.
US
Editor Harry Mitchell Thompson harry@boardsportsource.com Surf & French Editor Iker Aguirre iker@boardsportsource.com Snowboard Editor Rémi Forsans remi@boardsportsource.com Skate Editor Dirk Vogel dirk@boardsportsource.com German Editor Anna Langer Anna@boardsportsource.com SUP Editor Robert Etienne sup@boardsportsource.com Graphic Design Séréna Lutton serena@boardsportsource.com Web Media Manager Denis Houillé denis@boardsportsource.com Proofreaders Insa Muth, Marie-Laure Ducos, Sam Grant Contributors Jokin Arroyo, Benoît Brecq, Gordon Way, Fabien Grisel, Franz Holler, Adam Rowlands, Robert Etienne, Anna Langer, Emma Humphreys, Sam Grant, David Bianic, Robbie Morgan, Francois Applagnat, Siana Ivanova.
HELLO #78 The boardsports industry has been through a time of change and upheaval since the global financial crisis coincided with brands realizing the volume of product they had been manufacturing was far too large. Since then it has been sink or swim, and Rip Curl are a brand who has come out with their head well above water. For this issue of SOURCE, Rip Curl’s European CEO Wilco Prins tells us how the company has thinned its product lines by 50% and has executed a strategy, segmenting their lines to fit their consumer with a high amount of technical innovation, guaranteed quality and with the stories being told by some of the finest athletes in their field. Resulting in a solid bottom line and setting a fine example. As reported in our SS16 trend reports, brands in general are vying for a more technical and/ or premium approach to the market for 2016, meaning new products feature technical aspects to justify their price tag. Whereas before a consumer would buy all their products from one brand, and one brand only, it’s now the case that consumers shop around to find the best product for them. This is opening up the market for brands to start winning a whole new customer base. Brands are no longer
searching for huge volumes, but are instead looking for quality and repeat custom. And if a customer buys a good technical product from a brand, this creates loyalty. Customer loyalty also extends to retail, where one retailer’s satisfaction with a wetsuit, a sunglass, SUP or longboard can equate to large orders and given the right sales support and payment terms will be the beginning (or continuation) of a fruitful relationship. SOURCE #78’s trend reports break down the ever increasing amount of product information available, as our experts review what’s worth a punt for SS16 in everything from wetsuits to longboards, sunglasses to action cams and their accessories right the way through to surf apparel and watches. We’re also looking at a couple of new trend categories – the rise of women’s activewear, and a category that many brands are placing a real focus on, thanks to the transient lifestyles we all live – luggage and rucksacks. We have a special SUP focus for this issue with a trend report and an interview with Red Paddle’s Co.’s Co-Founder John Hibbard.
Always Sideways Harry Mitchell Thompson Editor
CONTENT 09 CONTENTS
59 SKATING AT THE OLYMPICS?
11 NEWS
62 WOMEN’S SURF APPAREL SS16 TREND REPORT
14 TRADE SHOW REVIEWS
65 MEN’S SURF APPAREL SS16 TREND REPORT
17 RETAILER PROFILE – NOMAD STORE
69 LUGGAGE & RUCKSACKS SS16 TREND REPORT
18 ACTIVEWEAR SS16 TREND REPORT
72 SUP FOCUS – RED PADDLE’S JOHN HIBBARD
To Subscribe www.boardsportsource.com subs@boardsportsource.com
21 SUP SS16 TREND REPORT
75 WETSUITS SS16 TREND REPORT
27 SUNGLASSES SS16 TREND REPORT
80 BUYER SCIENCE – IVO NISA, 58 SURF
33 SUNGLASSES PRODUCT PICTORIAL
83 BRAND PROFILE: MAUI AND SONS
Publisher clive@boardsportsource.com
36 BIG WIG INTERVIEW: RIP CURL CEO WILCO PRINS 84 BRAND PROFILE: NICE SKATEBOARD 39 ACTION CAMERAS & ACCESSORIES TREND
86 BRAND PROFILE: KORUA SHAPES
Published by ESB 22 Friars Street, Sudbury Suffolk, CO10 2AA. UK
REPORT
88 GREENROOMVOICE LOOK AT OUTERKNOWN
42 WATCHES SS16 TREND REPORT
90 NEW PRODUCTS
45 RIDE O’METER
93 MARKET INTELLIGENCE
49 A LOST GENERATION
104 EVENTS
Boardsport SOURCE is published bi-monthly © ESB. All Rights Reserved
53 LONGBOARDS SS16 TREND REPORT
107 ONE EYED MONSTER
Advertising & Marketing clive@boardsportsource.com Accounts Manager accounts@boardsportsource.com
On the cover: François Liets, Billabong Brand Manager surfing Mullaghmore, in Ireland. Photo: Laurent Pujol. www.boardsportsource.com No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Application for permission for use of copyright material including permission to reproduce extracts in other public works shall be made to the publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source must be given. The views expressed in this publication are not those necessarily held by the Publisher. ISSN # 1478-4777 9
#78
INDUSTRY NEWS
EUROSIMA SURF SUMMIT 14TH EDITION - OCTOBER 8-9, 2015
THE SWATCH FREERIDE WORLD TOUR ANNOUNCES 2016 WORLD TOUR DATES
The EuroSIMA Surf Summit has confirmed the dates for its 14th edition. As the Quiksilver Pro, France moves its dates slightly later, so does the Surf Summit, taking place at the Belambra at Les Estagnots in Seignosse from October 8-9. The Surfing Lounge returns to the EuroSIMA Surf Summit in Hossegor this year, where brands can showcase their latest innovations for the surf industry to see. Speakers include: Renaud Vaschalde, Sports industry analyst at NPD Group, surfer Dave Rastovich, traveller, mountain and photographer Maurice Rebeix, Frédéric Beuvry Senior VP Brand, Design & Ergonomy at Schneider Electric and Jacques Paget - LIBRA Conseil, Expert in negotiations and Illusionist. Charlotte Cochaud – Michel et Augustin’s Brand Content Manager speaks, and there will be a European Action Sports Retailers Round Table hosted by ISPO. The Waterman’s Ball will be held at the same venue as last year on Friday October 9, 2015 starting at 8pm under the theme of ‘Hot Rod with a denim dress code. As always this event provides the European surf business with a focal point to network and discus industry issues, as well as topical presentations. Look forward to seeing you there.
The Freeride World Tour’s line-up for 2016 has been announced with the world’s finest backcountry riders kicking off in Vallnord Arcalis in Andorra before descending upon Chamonix. The tour will then stop in Fieberbrunn before ‘the cut’ thins out the competitive field. The tour then takes flight over to Haines in Alaska, before the second and final cut sees the top six male snowboarders and four female snowboarders compete in Verbier to decide the 2016 Freeride World Tour Champion.
BRUNOTTI’S REINVENTION Brunotti are to have a complete reinvention of the company, which will see the company launch 180 products in their RDP (Rider Developed Product) collection. The company, having been founded in 1979 is also to release a fashion-forward line, NMTC which will be through different distribution and all geared towards their ‘All boardsports’ ethos, aimed at getting people ‘on board’.
OAKLEY CLOSES EUROPEAN HQ, JOBS MOVE TO LUXOTTICA OFFICES Luxottica has closed Oakley’s Zurich headquarters, with these jobs moving to the Luxottica offices in Milan, London, or elsewhere in Italy as a part of the company’s restructuring of Oakley that will save z100 million over time between top-line growth and cost savings. Oakley are expected to create ¤50 million revenues from the integration, while saving ¤50 million in annual costs. Oakley was acquired by Luxottica in 2007, and has been run as a separate entity until now.
PENNY LAUNCHES LONGBOARDS
Penny skateboards have announced the launch of its longboard category. Available in six classic colour combinations, the new Penny 36” Longboard skateboard offers a fresh riding style complimenting their shorter cruiser boards and backpack product categories.
PATAGONIA APPOINTS ALEX BEASLEY AS ITS NEW COUNTRY MANAGER - UK & IRELAND Patagonia have appointed Alex Beasley as its new Country Manager for the UK & Ireland. This is the latest in a string of hires at the company, as they continue restructuring across Europe. Beasley previously ran sales for The North Face in the UK & Ireland, prior to starting up his own digital marketing consultancy company in April 2014.
ISPO BEIJING: MESSE MÜNCHEN EXTENDS AGREEMENT WITH ALPITEC CHINA On July 31, it was announced that Beijing will be the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympic games, and coming with that news is the announcement that Messe München (owners of ISPO), have signed an extension of their partnership with Alpitec China, the international trade exhibition for mountaineering and winter technologies by Fiera Bolzano.
SUPERBRAND TO SUPPLY EUROPE WITH SURFBOARDS FROM AUSTRALIA After having their surfboards for the European market shaped by Nuno Matta in Portugal for five years, SUPERbrand are to have their surfboards manufactured for the region out of their Gold Coast, Australia facility led by Adam “Sparrow” Fletcher.
SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE ANNOUNCE GLOBAL WAVE CONFERENCE, CORNWALL & LONDON, OCTOBER 2015 Surfers Against Sewage have announce the Global Wave Conference, a major international event focused on the protection of waves, oceans, beaches and surf habitats worldwide, which will take place in Cornwall, England from 12-13 October, and then move to the country’s capitol at the Palace of Westminster on October 14.
FREEZE BIG AIR 2015, LONDON’S OLYMPIC PARK, NOVEMBER 14, 2015 Freeze Big Air will welcome the world’s finest competitive snowboarders and skiers to the UK’s capitol for the FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air and International Ski Invitational. Taking place at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Freeze Big Air will see a jump made from real snow spanning 120m x 41m. UK-based action sports PR agency All Conditions Media have been put in charge of PR for the event, which Olympic bronze medallist Jenny Jones and fellow British snowboarding Olympian Jamie Nicholls are ambassadors for.
YOUR PEOPLE TAKES OVER ANIMAL DISTRIBUTION IN GERMANY Animal are to be distributed by Your People in Germany, joining the likes of Smith Optics, Rome SDS, Holden Outerwear, Spacecraft, Foolmoon, and Maui and Sons on the Stuttgart based agency’s books.
11
INDUSTRY NEWS
J-BAY OPEN CALLED OFF AS MICK FANNING IS ATTACKED BY TWO SHARKS IN FINAL
EX PRO NUNO MATTA PRESENTS MATTASHAPES
The South African stop on the World Surf League Championship Tour was called off just moments into the final after Australian Mick Fanning was attacked by two Great White sharks. Fanning survived unscathed and The World Surf League decided to call the competition off, awarding both Fanning and Wilson joint second place; sharing the prize money and second place points.
Nuno Matta was one of Portugal’s finest surfers in the 90s, winning national titles and placing in the top 16 of the European tour. Nuno was also the only surfer on tour to shape his own boards. Now Matta, after working on other projects for 20 years is launching MATTAshapes surfboards.
PREMIUM GROUP BUYS BRIGHT TRADESHOW The Premium Group (owners of Premium and Seek tradeshows) has acquired fellow Berlin tradeshow Bright in a five-year deal. Bright had seen plenty of interest from other parties, but it was the Premium Group’s offer that was the most attractive. The Premium Group has purchased Bright founders Thomas Martini and Marco Asli’s shares, but the pair will remain as managers and creative directors of Bright.
JOFFREY DELFGAAUW APPOINTED HEAD OF DESIGN AT BRUNOTTI Joffrey Delfgaauw has been appointed the new Head of Design at Brunotti. Delfgaauw previously served as Design Manager at Protest for 14 years, where the company’s design team grew from three to 16 people. At Brunotti he will lead the different collection segments and the designers.
SUPERBRAND APPOINTS DOUBLE OVERHEAD AS UK DISTRIBUTOR
The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Show London is changing location for its 2015 show to Battersea Park. The show has also partnered with Altitude Comedy Festival to provide comedic performances. The show will run in London from November 5-8, and its Northern England equivalent will be in Manchester from October 30 – November 1.
WAVEGARDEN PARTNERS WITH SKI LIFT EXPERTS LEITNER Artificial wave generating company Wavegarden have announced a strategic partnership with Leitner - a company that has been making the system that powers ski lifts and gondolas for 150 years. Leitner’s DirectDrive provides a gearless system that will propel Wavegarden’s ‘wavefoil’ from one end of the lagoon to the other, resulting in waves ranging from 50cm to 190cm in height, and lasting for up to 35 seconds.
THE RIDERS LOUNGE APPOINTED UK & IRELAND DISTRIBUTOR OF SANDBOX
Double Overhead have been appointed the exclusive distributors for SUPERbrand surfboards and apparel in the UK. Double Overhead already looks after brands including Santa Cruz, Carve Eyewear and Independent Skate Trucks in the UK.
UK based boardsports distribution company The Riders Lounge is to take over the distribution of Sandbox in both the UK and Ireland. Rich Wilder will be the protection company’s brand manager and Sandbox join the likes of Capita Snowboards, Union Bindings, 686 Apparel, DeeLuxe Boots and Coal Headwear on The Riders Lounge’s books.
ION CAMERAS & CONTOUR ANNOUNCE MERGER
OCEAN AND EARTH RESTRUCTURE IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA
iON Cameras and Contour are joining forces, to give an overall distribution network of over 10,000 storefronts in 40 countries. Together, the two companies will invest in the innovation of camera hardware as well as in software solutions to enable consumers to shoot, edit, share, live stream and store their video/photo content in the cloud as simply as possible. iON Cameras CEO and Founder Giovanni Tomaselli will serve as the new company’s CEO. Contour’s current CEO James Harrison will assume the role of president.Freedumb Airlines.
Ocean and Earth are restructuring their distribution in Germany and Austria. The new structure will see Nuno Amado from Surfcloud Portugal take the distribution rights for Germany and Austria. Toby Hammer Products will act as the agent for Surfcloud in these two countries. Nuno Amado from Surfcloud has been working with Ocean and Earth in Portugal for over eight years. He has grown the Ocean and Earth brand to be one of the biggest surf hardware brands in Portugal and was awarded the Highest Distributor Growth Award last year from Ocean and Earth.
PROTEST APPOINTS NEW MANAGERS Protest Sportswear announced that Ine Wouters and Ingrid Kalma have been appointed as Design Managers for the sportswear brand. After the departure of Joffrey Delfgaauw Protest decided to promote both women to the role of Design Manager. Ine Wouters will be responsible for the creative part and Ingrid Kalma for the organisational parts of the design department. Additionally Anjet Wesselink has been appointed as the new head of Marketing. 12
THE TELEGRAPH SKI AND SNOWBOARD SHOW MOVES TO BATTERSEA PARK
ARC’TERYX TO OPEN FLAGSHIP STORE IN LONDON Arc’teryx are to open their first European flagship store in London’s West End. The store will be in the The Crown Estate and The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s £100m Eagle Place development between Piccadilly and Jermyn Street. Doors to open in August.
TRADE SHOW REVIEWS BRIGHT, BERLIN, GERMANY, 8-10 JULY Bright now looks and feels like a proper trade show at its new location in the Berlin Arena. The new look layout, which is all on one floor allows visitors to see from one end of the hall to the other, and to get around much more easily. Bright announced a 20% increase in exhibitor floor space, but the space in general feels much bigger. Stands all vary in size, but there are no stands that feel oppressively large with all booths in the centre having a shoulder high height limit to allow for an open feel. The building itself is a continuation of the de-industrial backdrop of previous venues and fits well with the variety of the stand designs. Day one was a busy one with many visitors taking advantage of Bright’s new location right next to Seek to move between the two shows. This combination makes the Berlin Arena one of the top draws of the Fashion week. Brands exhibiting at both Bright and Seek commented on how they’d spoken with new types of retailers, who were exposed to their products, thanks to their
new joint location. In fact on reflection quite a number of brands who you would expect to be at Seek were at Bright looking for new retailer outlets and at Seek there where also brands who you would expect to be at Bright. On the last day of the show it was announced that The Premium Group who own Seek had bought 100% of Bright. A number of different offers had been made for the show over the last few months but the synergies and the desire to maintain the Berlin location made Premium’s the most attractive offer. Bright’s Marco Aslim and Thomas Martini will both will stay as Managing Directors and help maintain the Bright DNA. It will be interesting to see this winter how the identity of these two shows develop, but no doubt the new Bright-Seek combination with its 600 plus brands will be a force for years to come.
SEEK, BERLIN GERMANY, 8-10 JULY Seek was held at the same venue as the winter show. The winter event had been extremely busy as the show picked up traffic and brands that had traditionally been at BBB. This popularity continued into this summer’s show with visitor numbers increasing by a further 5%. The hall is all on one floor and all the stands are of a standard size and build and minimalist design with just the brand name and products on display.
All other band marketing is kept to a minimum inside the hall. This gives all brands an equal opportunity to attract people walking the hall. With the catering stands moved outside, additional space has been freed up enabling more brands to exhibit at the show. The Hoppetosse boat/club right next to the shows on the River Spree held the joint Bright/Seek party.
SHITFOOT MONGOLAND (SFML), BERLIN, GERMANY, 8-10 JULY Times and shows are a changing and skate has now got its very own core gathering during Berlin fashion week thanks to industry vets Alex Irvine co-owner of Witchcraft Hardware and Sean James of Perus. SFML was across the river from Bright and SEEK in Neue Heimat at the Urban Spree - an artist/music gallery/venue and was open to public and industry. The show was well attended by the various skate teams in town who hung out at the popup skate ramp and by crews of skaters driving hundreds of miles to party and sell some decks. Brands
were allocated a small space for a small price, divided by wooden pallets. Brands hung skateboards on walls, and decorated their stalls however they pleased for an overall ghetto style. Evenings were spiced up with the Lousy One Up Party, the Free Skate Mag x Sour Skateboards and Carhartt’s work in progress from Dirt to Dust book launch. SFML found a gap and filled it. So expect further developments for this winter.
JACKET REQUIRED, LONDON, UK, 29-30 JULY Jacket Required returned to London’s East End for a preview of Spring/Summer 2016 lines. The first thing to notice was a change of entrance, as visitors now enter on Hanbury Street, literally just off Brick Lane. The space has extended, and now attendees walk through an entire new hall before finding themselves back at the old entrance leading to the rest of the show. The ‘action sports’ area was still in its same place, and even sprawled further round to the left with Out of Step Agency occupying a large space purely for their brands Brixton, HUF and The Hundreds. In the main hall, The Critical Slide Society had upped sticks from their usual spot in the ‘action sports’ hub to mingle with a different crowd, where Lightning Bolt and Eastpak set up shop again. Event organisers had installed a massive air conditioning system overhead in the main hall after complaints from last year’s sweltering greenhouse-esque affair. However, with London’s unseasonably
14
cold temperatures, a number of exhibitors were reaching for display hoodies. As reported in our SS16 trend reports, brands are vying for a more performance and/or premium approach to the apparel market for SS16, meaning new products are full of technical features to justify their price tag. Prints remain strong for SS16 with those brands from a surf/outdoor heritage telling stories through colourful designs and prints including everything from tigers and sharks through to slices of watermelon, and vintage designs from the 70s and 80s. The brands with a more ‘gritty’ look, showed reimagined coach jackets and flannel shirts with a more ‘workwear’ type vibe, to go along with skateable denims and trousers. The show continues to grow in size and importance reflecting London’s position in the international streetwear market.
15
retailer profile
NOMAD, HENDAYE, FRANCE Nomad Surf Shop in Hendaye started as a big dream to target a niche market in the Basque Country, aiming to provide expertise, passion and technical knowledge to an area which was deemed a beginners surf spot. Eight years later, specialising in both surf and skate equipment, business is better than ever, so we spoke to Nomad’s Jeremy Jouhaud to find out a little more about Nomad’s success. Please give a brief history of your store including when it was started, who started it, who the owners and key players are. I created Nomad Surf Shop in 2006. After being on the road for six years - working in a ski resort in the winter and surfing on the Atlantic coast the rest of the year - I decided it was time to settle down and make a life time dream come true and open a surf shop. My best friend used to live in Hendaye, Basque Country, and told me it was a perfect place to open a shop because there was an influx of surfers, no surf shops back then, only two great shapers and a couple of surf schools. People told me I was a bit crazy because I wanted my shop to be a technical store (not just another t-shirt store) and Hendaye was only known as a beginners surf spot. But after a couple of years, it was clear I made the right choice. What are the benefits of having a physical shop over simply having an online store? It’s crucial to have real contact with customers; to help them make the right choices when it comes to buying technical items. For the customer, having good advice at the right moment can be the difference between giving up a sport they feel that they can’t progress at, or having a life long relationship with the sport. Talking to passionate skateboarders and surfers in my local shops when I was 10 or 12 years old changed my life forever. Online shops won’t ever do this for anyone, they sell equipment, not passion. What trends have you noticed for Summer 2015? Longboard sales are changing a bit this year. Top of the range brand sales are decreasing a bit and cheap boards are doing the same, meaning that mid-range is increasing a lot. Surfboards are getting shorter and wider every year, which is a good thing, because people always want shorter boards than what they’re actually able to surf. With theses types of boards, it’s easier to find the balance between what they want and what they need.
Please break down what your policy is regarding sales. We are not salesmen, we are technicians. That means if you know what you’re talking about (that means the technical specification of each item you sell, the history of the brand as well as the latest innovations) there’s no need to be a good seller. People will trust you and things will sell by themselves. Which products/brands are you most looking forward to stocking for Spring/Summer 2016? I started my own skateboard/longboard brand three years ago - Eat The Beatume – and it’s getting better every year. Every winter I challenge myself to find new designs and new features for my boards while retaining a local supplier and low prices (boards are made local here in the Basque Country). That keeps my mind pretty busy and very excited until each new collection is released. Do you have a specific schedule for posting product on social media? I’m not a social media maniac. I try to keep the shop’s website as up to date as I can, but we won’t post pictures and videos everyday on social networks. Our website’s goal is to give customers all the information they need to get to the shop and have a real chat with us. What kind of advice can you give other independent retailers who are trying to compete against the big box megastores? People’s minds are really changing towards megastores and big companies. People want more little shops, locals companies, quality products and experts to sell it. Independent retailers have to choose their suppliers carefully and be specialists on everything they sell; that’s what makes the difference between us and them. But don’t forget that each time a megastore sells a board to a beginner, he may be a future customer of your shop! A lot of people will buy their first skate or surfboard there... and that creates new riders who will eventually end up in a real board store, when they want a good board.
WWW.NOMADSURFSHOP.FR 17
photos: Bench / Burton
trend report
WOMEN’S ACTIVEWEAR TREND REPORT The “sexiest buzz word of 2015: Athleisure” (according to digiday.com), refers to the fusion of athletic and leisure clothing, and gives the rise of the yoga pants that we’ve mentioned in several trend reports on women’s wear a proper name. And deservedly so, as it doesn’t look like that trend is waning any time soon, if anything it is picking up speed and volume. Because even though some cynics might attribute it just to lazy people wanting to wear their comfy sweat pants all the time, it also reflects bigger overall developments in our society that is adopting a more healthy lifestyle and thus opts for more functionality and comfort in clothing. Trying to fit fitness routines into busy days, means it looks like “leggings are the new denim,” as Nike CEO Mark Parker stated at the Women’s Innovation summit in New York last Fall, and even Wikipedia has its own entry for the word. Rooted in active lifestyles, boardsports related brands have quickly taken this on and integrated activewear into their women’s collections, sometimes even in stand-alone capsules. Anna Langer compiled a report on the category. Roxy “started to work on a specific performance range three years ago,” Marie Lauga, Global Head of Design fills us in and adds: “It’s quite new but our first client feedbacks are very positive which is always encouraging.” They focus on “three disciplines: running, yoga and water, which really corresponding to the brand’s spirit,” aiming to not only merge technical features with style but also to improve comfort during these activities. “Most of our products are in a polyester / spandex fabric with specific features” such as wicking, quick drying or compression “for better support in pants.” But, Marie adds, “fabrics also have to be fashionable,” as “fashion is an important side of the range and many pieces can be worn out of the sport practice.” Bench also focus on practicality for their main target group of “city dwellers”, integrating “moisture wicking, windproof, water resistant and breathable fabrics along with reflective trim detail and new pack away product categories,” says Chief Product Officer Sebastian Streck. The first pants in this style that were offered by Bench date back to 2011 but were “only available in the North American
market, where the trend started much earlier,” Sebastian informs us. The first collection available in Europe was Winter 2014 and has expanded considerably since then. The inspiration for next year’s range is “celebrating the nocturnal party atmosphere of the city” with a colour palette of “rich dark tones and neon brights”, followed by softer shades “as dawn arrives in the city, perfect to inspire an early morning fitness call - whether running through parks or swimming in outdoor pools.” CLWR will be launching their first designated activewear collection in Spring Summer 2016, although International Brand Manager Neil Slinger states that the “outdoor aspect has always been a strong aspect of the CLWR range in Spring,” taking their Winter expertise over into the Summer line. Hence CLWR present their range under the tagline “every day outdoor”, not ”restricting it to running wear, or yoga clothing, but rather functional clothing for outdoor lifestyles for creative individuals. Be it trail running in the forest, cycling to work, checking the surf on the rough Northern Europe coastlines
“Fashion is an important side of the range and many pieces can be worn out of the sport practice.” Marie Lauga, Global Head of Design at Roxy 18
trend report
or even just keeping dry at a music festival,” Neil explains. All with their signature, super stylish Scandi design feel, with proven cuts and twists to their successful winter patterns such as a Pink Leo or Swedish Camouflage. Fabrics are also crossed over from the CLWR Winter outerwear, “including highly waterproof 20k membrane fabrics called Pintech, or the fast drying Polyester Swiftdry which we incorporate in our fleeces, running shorts and training tees for example, mixed with mesh breathing panels.” Breathability is key for all activewear and is one of the main features of the SUPPLEX fabric that Billabong is using in their collection. “This fabric doesn’t crease, it is highly resistant and still leaves you all the freedom of movement needed to train. Whatever your body shape or attitude to working out, these high performance fabrics will only quit when you do,” says Virginie Medel, Billabong Design & Product Developer. Inspired by tropical designs, the collection “truly embodies our identity, the beach spirit,” Virginie continues. With “fresh colours, turquoise and lemon yellow buttons, bright, large tropical flowers and broad stripes,” it ties in nicely with their surf capsule collection, similar to the brand’s first foray into the fitness realms in Fall 14. Fulfilling their customers’ elusive dreams of living life by the sea: “whether you are living in a city or by the coast, this line will whisk you close to the ocean.” With a “play on modern nautical”, Finisterre also draw inspiration from the home of their main passion - surfing, albeit in a less “high shine and traditional sport looks” with “matt textured blends” as Product Director Debbie Luffman explains. Incorporating organic cotton,
prints that can be worn for years to come” plays into minimizing waste and consumption on yet another level, giving crossover functionality another edge on its own. Interpreting functionality in their very own way as well, Burton’s activewear line is “built around the idea of fitting everything you need for a weekend trip into a single backpack”, focusing on three key themes: packability, lightweight and durability. “We’ve focused on creating a juxtaposition of technical fabric with lifestyle silhouettes to create more opportunity for women to wear their favourite pieces everywhere, everyday,” says Senior Global PLM of Softgoods Stephanie Renaud, mentioning the reversible Plasma Legging as a prime example with “a printed and a solid side, so it’s wearable from the street to the gym or the hiking trail and back again.” Adding function beyond that of a regular garment, the packable styles “fold neatly into one of their own pockets to become a nice little bundle.” Rooted in winter sports as well, Eivy have featured “multifunctional base layers” since 2009 and are now expanding their approach. “Our customers had been using our base layers for working out for a long time,” says founder and designer Anna Vister, “and we wanted to provide them the same level of functionality in a lighter fabric for summer/indoor activities.” Translating their “street and hip-hop inspired design language” to the summer season, means blending “fabrics that perform when working out, providing comfort and breathability but with a streetwear look and feel” with “marble and floral prints, paired with colour blocking, cut and sew wedges and bold logos.”
CLWR present their range under the tagline “every day outdoor”, not ”restricting it to running wear, or yoga clothing, but rather functional clothing for outdoor lifestyles for creative individuals. Be it trail running in the forest, cycling to work, checking the surf on the rough Northern Europe coastlines or even just keeping dry at a music festival.” CLWR International Brand Manager Neil Slinger merino wool, tencel, modal as well as recycled nylon and polyester derived from post industrial nylon and PET, including fishing nets and drinking bottles, “the design of our activewear is very much informed and led by the fabric selection and by performance and quality,” she continues. “We don’t believe in over-teching and over designing.” Despite their origins in water sports ION’s activewear for 2016 is focused on female mountain bikers, catering to their specific needs in terms of durability, function and lightweight, while at the same time maintaining a “casual, yet sporty look that also works without a bike,” explains International Marketing Manager ION Bike Andi Lipp. Fabrics include Drirelease®, Coolmax®, Polyester and Polyamid, as well as “elastic softshell materials for the bike shorts and a combination of Polyester and Cotton for the shirts”, mostly in “subtle colours with vivid accents.” Outdoor veterans Patagonia “have been making activewear for many years” without referring to it as a separate segment. “We see it as the expansion of product created for activities into every day living,” elaborates Helena Barbour, Senior Director for Sportswear. With strong brand ethics when it comes to sustainable production and environmentally friendly products, Patagonia wants “women to be able to combine and use these pieces whether they are into yoga or climbing” but, most importantly, they want “them to have a choice, a choice towards pro environmental and social responsibility.” This is implemented with “fabric technologies that meet functional needs and are comfortable: quick dry, stretch, easy care, UPF, odour control, lightweight and versatile” and are produced in a “socially and environmentally responsible way”, including Fair Trade, organic cotton, Bluesign, and recycled materials. Striving to “find colours and
“Mons Royale has always been about versatility. From the very start we’ve tried to design garments that function both on the mountain and off it” says Mons Royale founder Hamish Acland and Creative Director Hannah Aubrey adds: “Versatility is our key theme, for example our Cap Tee has a drop-tail, which is perfect for mountain biking and also looks great with a pair of athletic leggings.” Made from lightweight 170g merino wool, that “wicks, breathes and dries quickly” and is “warm when it’s cool and cool when it’s hot”, their range “is cut to allow for movement – for example most garments are slightly longer in the body so you can wear them to ride in.” Colours are mostly primary, contrasted with charcoal mesh panels where increased breathability is needed. Prints are “themed from our home town of Wanaka, New Zealand including ‘from the bottom of the world’ which obviously goes well with underwear.” says Hannah. Whether all this active dressing will actually lead to more active consumers is still actively in the making though...
HIGHLIGHTS Practical comfort Tech fabrics Fashionable cuts Reflective details Colourful prints 19
photos: Starboard
trend report
REACHING SUP’S TIPPING POINT The summer of 2015 will go down in SUP history as the year where the sport’s popularity exploded through the following combination of elements: 1. Product availability through various networks. 2. Exceptionally warm weather in key waterfront cities across Europe. 3. Increase of SUP rental centres with licensed instructors dedicated to the sport. The convergence of these factors has created a surge in demand and caused many boardsports companies to rethink their future product portfolio in order to get a larger piece of this rapidly growing market. Trend Report by Robert Etienne. We can also thank the early adopters and other industry enthusiasts for setting the trend. It is due to years of diligence, perseverance and promotion from these passionate enthusiasts that all this happened. Today SUP activities are present on almost every European body of water and it has become this summer’s ‘in’ activity. It is an unprecedented phenomenon and is envied as the fastest growing water sport for the past few seasons. As in any rapidly growing sport there will be many hurdles that still need to be overcome, but because of its broad appeal, accessibility and mainstream fun factor, the SUP industry will certainly keep its freshness and remain lucrative over the years to come and beyond. Many retailers have come to realize that this industry has a lot more to offer than they ever imagined. As we enter the 2016-buying season, both SUP specialists and mainstream buyers will need to plan carefully and buy smart for next season. Retailers will have to carefully evaluate their 2016 pre-booking, as they will not want to miss the impulse buyer, once the first rays of sunshine hit the European coastlines and waterways early in the season. SIZES, SHAPES AND FEATURES As the market matures, manufacturers are fine-tuning their range with a clearer understanding of what the consumer wants. The majority of entry level 2016 production will remain relatively wide (32’’/34’’ up to 36’’) with volumes in the 240-300 litres range. As the sport matures,
riders begin to acquire more than one board for varying and specific uses. SUP product managers understand the importance of focusing on ease of riding and wider all-round boards in the 11’ category. In addition, the growing interest in touring requires that displacement hull noses be accessible to all, combining stability, performance and speed. Steve West, Mistral’s Brand Manager comments: “One thing has become clear, ‘Splash and Dash’ commercial operations, remain focused on short, wide boards in the 10’ x 36” range, while commercial schools see the value now in longer boards of 11’ The small business owner who runs a centre, will invest in top notch brands and is not affected with high price tags as he will not need long to amortize them.” On the majority of the European waterways, there’s a “discovery” trend on the rise, in which Silvain Aurenche of Lokahi sees potential: “Touring boards are, for sure, are very important now on European waters, 12’6’’ x 30’’ are and will be very popular with a wide tail to assure comfort.” Benoit Brecq, Hoff’s Marketing Manager recognizes the need for more volume and glide on the race front and analyses: “Due to a few changes in the SUP race regulations we have seen a big jump into 14’ race SUPs with narrower 26” to 27” widths as well as for downwind 14’ SUPs. Allround 10’6’’, 11’ or 10’2’’ (but wide) SUPs are still popular to match the average Joe’s needs.”
“We have seen another amazing year for SUP, growth and the sport is beginning to be seen as a year round activity, which will really open things up even more” Starboard’s Scott Warren 21
trend report
INFLATABLE BOARD CONSTRUCTION In last year’s BoardSport Source SUP Trend report, inflatables were recognized as the fastest growing and largest segment of the SUP industry. One year later, apart from quality, purpose-built boards, there are now tons of low-grade inflatables, misleading consumers with low quality generic product. Fortunately, companies such as Red Paddle, who only produce inflatables have been at the forefront of innovation as their Media Director, Luke Green points out: “Our mission has always been to produce boards that offer an authentic experience. This has meant we have been focused on using hand laminated second layers to increase stiffness and durability, which uses quite a lot of glue, material and of course is open to human error and differing quality during production. Over the last 18 months we have worked on an automated system where we are able to fuse the second layer on to the drop stitch core during the raw material phase rather than at the board production stage. This is done by machine and is therefore completely controllable and measurable. We call this MSL Fusion (Monocoque Structural Laminate). This means we now have boards with a superior cosmetic finish, that are up to 2kgs lighter and actually stiffer at a lower inflated pressure than before.” It must be stressed that one needs to look closely at the configuration of the drop stitch construction as if not closely woven it will not support pressure’s above 17-20psi. In terms of the results obtained, Scott Warren of Starboard remarks: “The materials take another leap forward in technological understanding. Being lighter, stiffer and stronger the new inflatable boards offer a better paddling experience than ever before. The main area of development has been within the material itself, looking at how to produce lighter, stiffer and stronger materials which maintain the flexible, durable qualities required for inflatable products.”
stabilized in a near future,” and Helgo Laas has a more positive note and states: “It will get close to 90% in certain countries in Europe”. Karin Gertenbach, Head of Marketing at Fanatic International goes on to say: “The iSUP sales are still increasing, however many customers start with an iSUP, getting them over the barrier of the large size/storage/ transportation of a SUP is what iSUP’s are perfect for. Casual users will keep their iSUP for a few seasons, however I have personally seen that many of the iSUP customers move onto composite boards/add a composite board to their quivers, as they get addicted to SUPing.” For Bic it’s a different story as in their Vannes factory, they produce hardboards only. So Benoit Tréguilly, from Bic’s Marketing & Communication department sees a stabilization or slower growth, while
“We have continued to grow in accordance with our forecasts and expect this to continue by at least 30%. Luke Green at Red Paddle Co.
Scott Warren of Starboard explains: “For the past few years inflatable boards have been leading the way in sales figures. For 2016 the growth we are seeing will continue to expand as the sport gains more spotlight in the world’s media”. Brunotti, the lifestyle clothing company, has lately entered into the SUP market and have ambitious plans for the future as conveyed by Casper Bleijenberg, Brunotti Sales Director: “The SUP trend is growing rapidly in a complete new target group and will keep growing for many years to come.”
photos: Fanatic
It is evident that the inflatable market has completely changed the split between hardboards and inflatables. In this shift, it has brought in all types of customers as Red Paddle’s, Luke Green concludes: “The inflatable technology side of the sport has allowed the sport to really flourish and our focus on producing an authentic board with genuine performance means the inflatable side of the sport will continue to grow at a fast pace. There is now a viable product for all types of paddlers whether it is schools, families or people looking for the most practical solution. If the trend is to continue, as it has over the past five years, then we can expect to see an even greater shift towards the inflatable technologies.”
FUTURE INFLATABLE SALES Leading brands are finding it difficult to continue to maintain market share as the sport matures and more brands fight to enter the inflatable market that now counts for between 80-90% of the market depending on the country. In some markets such as Germany we could hardly believe it when Markus Schörling Germany’s Red Paddle distributor told us at Paddle Expo last year that the German market was 90% inflatable. This trend has continued to evolve as Silvain Aurenche of Lokahi highlites: “It all depends where we look at. Today 98% of SUP boards, in Germany are inflatables. But in countries like France, Spain, Portugal and also the Scandinavian countries we still sell a majority of hard boards.” Delpero of BONZ is more nuanced: “We think that this market will be 22
SUP SALES IN 2015 Sales remain consistently strong as the interest in SUP continues to rise. Agencies for the most part have missed sales, because they failed to carry inventory. Brands with structured distributors are calling the shots in their respective marketplace. Luke Green at Red Paddle Co. notes: “We have continued to grow in accordance with our forecasts and expect this to continue by at least 30%. In emerging markets there is huge potential to match the growth and success already witnessed through our distribution across the globe. That is the beauty of SUP. It is the only boardsport that you can do in every country! “ So how does this read for brands that are diversified in other water sports? Jacopo Giusti of RRD reports: “Talking about overall RRD Turnover, in one year SUP has grown from 18% to 25% of total RRD turn over, so besides windsurfing, kiteboarding, wetsuits and boardsport accessories, year after year, SUP is becoming a very important business for the brand.” So as summer comes to an end, the outlook according to Starboard’s Scott Warren is bright: “We have seen another amazing year for SUP, growth and the sport is beginning to be seen as a year round activity, which will really open things up even more”
trend report
feel in the handling of our boards. He concludes without hesitation: “MSL Fusion represents the single most significant development in board construction.” CHEAPER OPTIONS The ¤400 inflatable kit (board – paddle – pump) that appear to have been the summer hit had extremely low price tags (at least 50% below the average price for an all-round inflatable). These excessively low prices send a confusing message; the user feels that he’s standing on a soft mattress instead of a ‘real deal’ engineered SUP. He does get the expected experience but he is disappointed with this first purchase. If these first timers, do not understand that the reason they did not enjoy their ride, was due to poor quality and ill fitted equipment (insufficient air pressure, poor board shape and construction coupled with a short flimsy paddle). While it allowed for them to discover a new activity, there is no assurance that this customer will be not be disillusioned. Helgo Laas at SIC analyses Far East production: “The inflatable market seems universally under pressure with price points. An increase in Asian labour costs and the US Dollar having been so volatile has added to keep costs down. Seemingly, the hardboard market has been less affected, but this depends on your manufacturing processes in particular.” The rise of the Dollar has given advantages to the few companies still producing in Europe for hardboards, since the product is sold in Euros.
photo: Red Paddle Co
OUTLOOK: As we’ve heard from the participating brands, the ongoing trend is to keep boards highly accessible to entry-level consumers. Consumers are paying more attention to their gear. For example, a high performance paddle with a choice of flex, is becoming a vital piece of equipment as riders progress. On an industry note SUPIA (SUP Industry Association) in the US is growing rapidly. It endorses Surf Expo’s two annual shows in Orlando and Outdoor Retailer’s Summer Market in Salt Lake City. In Europe, Paddle expo in Germany is gaining tractions and positioning itself as the leading European SUP Tradeshow. NEW TECH FOR 2016 With SUP developments progressing so fast, we are now seeing the product designers taking in a much more ‘user friendly ‘hands on’ approach in bringing to market products specifically designed with the novice end consumer in mind. This in turn, will help make their access into SUP easier than ever before. This is significantly different than in the past, where watersports such as windsurfing ultimately suffered a strong decline, mainly because of products destined for an elite user. The progression of high modulus carbon materials is helping build stiffer and lighter racing hulls. Karin Gertenbach of Fanatic notes: “For composite, we stick to our world class production facility at Cobra for 95% of our products, always choosing the most exclusive layups possible.” In terms of technology, since the inflatable business has become such an important part of the SUP industry, brands are developing SUP specific materials such as Red Paddle’s MSL technology mentioned above. Luke Green adds: “Also, thanks to this new laminate we have been able to reduce swing weight, enabling an even more responsive
After more than 10 years as an industry, we can safely say that SUP is out if its infancy stage. Let’s hope lessons have been learnt from past industries that rushed into extremes with lack of foresight and little to show for it. The SUP industry has a bright and lengthy future to the extent that the players can share the common goal of ensuring that every newcomer, goes away with such a positive experience, that his only desire is to share and perpetuate the SUP STOKE!
HIGHLIGHTS Laminated ultralight inflatable materials Accessible entry level models Inflatable growth exceeds 30% European production rises Inflatable increases to 80% of the market
“The iSUP sales are still increasing, however many customers start with an iSUP, getting them over the barrier of the large size/storage/transportation of a SUP is what iSUP’s are perfect for. Casual users will keep their iSUP for a few seasons, however I have personally seen that many of the iSUP customers move onto composite boards/add a composite board to their quivers, as they get addicted to SUPing.” Karin Gertenbach, Head of Marketing at Fanatic International 24
photo: Melon
trend report
50 SHADES OF NEW TRENDS Actually not quite, as after a couple of seasons of proper action with bold new styles and innovative developments in materials and lens technology, the eyewear sector is calming down a bit. Leaving trends some time to spread through the whole population and offering brands an opportunity to refine as well as solidify their styles. By Anna Langer. While there were at least one or two new trends to report from each brands in previous season, the major trend in 2016 will be “simply to simplify!” thinks James Robinson, Art Director/Brand Manager at Carve. “The last few seasons have been about brights, fluos and being bold,” he continues and sums up: “the eyewear is not the hero piece but part of the overall look.”
perfect combination of style and performance simultaneous in each pair of sunglasses they purchase”, Animal agree that “sports sunglasses are becoming more lifestyle inspired” and Zeal add their automatic goggle lens technology, “to provide a seamless transition in the lenses’ tint no matter what weather Mother Nature throws at you,” says Nate Hrivnak from Zeal Marketing.
“ATHLEISURE” “The “athleisure” movement has had a huge impact on all fashion and accessories. As a result, we are seeing that consumers are looking for product that looks good but still offers performance aspects like polarized lenses or Hytrel™ rubber on the frame,” says Juliette Koh, Curator of Happy Eyewear (Product Director) at Spy. Dragon had already anticipated this last year, when they launched their XP Performance lenses. “This season’s collection boasts a complete range from directional lifestyle designs to elite performance features bound by a cohesive design language that visually speaks for the brand,” explains Mike Tobia, Director of Product. Electric is going in a similar direction, offering “style that performs” with their new S-Line products, that are “a mash-up of our most popular styles with performance enhancing features,” state Mike Nelson and Thom Moran from the Global Product & Design Team. “We’ve done this in response to the lack of good looking performance products out there.”
Roxy and Quiksilver on the other hand stick with their line division in two parts: “Performance and Lifestyle” for the girls, “Performance and Modern Original” for the guys. “The products have details on quality and innovation dedicated to sports (surf/ snow). The main focus is on lens technologies and on frames features,” according to Eyewear Product Manager JP Bonnemason. “Our Lifestyle / Modern Original collection is based on core market fashion and eyewear trends.” A vital factor in performance is the fit of the glasses on your face, more precisely the nose, where they should neither pinch nor slide off. Smith address this with “megol nose and temple pads and Smith’s new detachable sunglass leash” or even “tailor fit adjustable nose pad technology” on their metal models. “Nose pads engineered with two-position adjustability, providing a personal fit while also designed specifically to not pull or catch your hair when worn on top of your head” illustrates Joe Snyder, Category Manager Eyewear. Electric work with “Performance Grip nose pads and temple sleeves to prevent frame slippage even during rigorous activity or while sweating” and Neff also highlight rubber nose pieces in their favourite models.
Shred Optics also reference the “desire of consumers to have the
27
trend report
This will excite ladies who prefer unisex models, but there will also be more female specific models from Electric, Shred and Animal, who are expanding their ranges in this sector. LEAN & GREEN Another trend factoring in favour of the female customers are efforts to make sunnies light as a feather. Dirty Dog doesn’t use a specific new material, says General Manager Martin Jones, “but we are developing light weight options which will feel extremely flexible as well as extremely comfortable.” VonZipper use Nylon Grilamid for their “sportier styles. Getting together with durability and lightweight” states Aecio Flávio Costa, Brand & Marketing Manager Europe and Shred even patented their NOWEIGHT™ formula for hyper-lite glasses. Metal can also be an option for lightweight frames, as Animal use it. And also Spy is “exploring more that can be done with metals” but instead of “the same aviator”, they are trying “different metal profiles, sizes, and shapes.” Carve have introduced “aluminium temples” but also offer TR90 in their range, “which has memory technology and is extremely flexible, some styles like the DC can basically be laid flat and bounce back to the original shape,” states James. Sinner implement this extremely flexible material mainly for their kids collection, to prevents them from breaking their frames.
photo: Von Zipper
Unsinkable sunnies stay important as well, especially for water sports. The pioneers in that sector, Dragon, add new styles to their H20 collection, “now available with injected colour frames.” And Dirty Dog also continue to “develop the floating frame for our outdoor and extreme sports sectors.”
SIMPLY RETRO Whether tailored for performance, lifestyle or both, retro shapes are still strong. Sinner’s Marketing Manager Dennis van de Ven thinks that “round frames are hot” and is backed up by Neff, who name the Oswald, a “rounded silhouette that combines elements of both modern and retro design” as one of their favourites for next year. Raen go for “retro styling but with modern acetates and finishing” and Carve agree that “there seems to be a real push back to classic styles, with Wayfarers and Aviators making a comeback.” Gloryfy have a “twist on the classical Wayfarer look” in their line as well, “but with our unbreakable technology and our own design. The matte coating in combination with the mirrored lenses, gives it a unique look!” says Claudio Blassnig, Head of Marketing. While Dirty Dog expect a revival for wrap styles, they also have styles following the recent surge for “lightweight and more simplistic design” with slimmer, less chunky styles. Like the new Spy Cameo, “which has a delicate, yet strong, aesthetic” or Raen’s “super thin metal frame surrounded by acetate” that gives “an amazing 3D look,” according to Rob Fairweather from UK Sales.
Eco-friendly sunglasses are still a bit of a minority, but choices are growing steadily. Smith has been working with Evolve, a material that “incorporates 53% bio-based” substances for a while, increasing the range “into what has become the largest eco-friendly sunglass collection in the world,” says Joe. “We believe that sunglasses should be handcrafted and designed with intent to minimize their footprint, paving the way for responsibly and stylishly made sunglasses that stand up to life’s adventures,” says Nate summing up Zeal’s ethos. “We work with the best in the industry to offer Italian-made frames derived from M49 – a cotton-based, eco-friendly acetate that offers superior fit and feel for the sunglass savant. Handcrafted, durable, yet biodegradable in an anaerobic environment in just 18 months.” Sinner also focus “more and more on environmently-friendly products” and introduce a new eco-friendly material in 2016. “We completed our range of handmade eco-friendly bamboo sunglasses with the brand-new CX ECO FRIENDLY SERIES. These models have a 100% recyclable, environmentally friendly production process,” Dennis explains. CLEVER LENSES Just like regular technologies, those implemented in sunglass lenses are developing faster than you can blink. And incorporate more features than you can possibly imagine – they can even save lives! At least from POC: “With the mission to save lives and reduce the consequences of accidents we have worked in close collaboration with Carl Zeiss Vision to support the vision and reduce reaction time in different situations,” explains Product Developer Tove Fritzell. “By analysing the exterior factors that affect your performance and safety, we have been able to optimize the eyewear for the specific activity.
“The “athleisure” movement has had a huge impact on all fashion and accessories. As a result, we are seeing that consumers are looking for product that looks good but still offers performance aspects like polarized lenses or Hytrel™ rubber on the frame,” Juliette Koh, Curator of Happy Eyewear (Product Director) Spy 28
29
trend report
“We believe that sunglasses should be handcrafted and designed with intent to minimize their footprint, paving the way for responsibly and stylishly made sunglasses that stand up to life’s adventures” Nate Hrivnak, Zeal Marketing Tints have specific transmission curves, that will bring you contrast to where you need it.” Stronger contrast and hence enhanced vision are also tackled by Smith’s ChromaPop technology that is “designed to enhance colours and provide superior optical clarity,” Spy’s Happy Lens Technology, the SINTEC® polarised and Photochromic TRANS+® lenses from Sinner as well as Shred’s No Distortion lenses, that are “tested under the harshest of conditions with the US Air Force.” Zeal also have a new “automatic lens” in their Big Timber and Decoy models, that transitions from a 15-28% VLT range “so you can focus on the path ahead, sun up to sun down without ever changing your sunnies.”
who “are still our best target because Quiksilver and Roxy bring some fun to a medical accessory thanks to logos, colours or new concept.” VonZipper also sees the “Ophthalmic market as a vital Brand’s extension. We’ve been out for a couple of seasons and it is time to get back stronger with a RX collection for 2016,” says Aecio. And Zeal sums up: “RX lenses are an integral part of our mission that defines us as a leader within the optical industry. This is for the four eyes out there who realize the benefits from Zeals, yet who don’t wish to sacrifice quality or comfort.” Because if there’s only one trend crystallising, it’s that glasses emerging from the boardsports world are getting better every year.
MIRROR MIRROR So-called “revo” or mirror lenses are staying on the shelves next year, in classical strong tones or updated with softer shades like Bronze Fade w/ Silver Mirror or Green Polar w/ Blue from Spy, subtle metallic silvers, rose tints from Electric and even a ‘rainbow’ lens colour-way from Animal. “Diversification and choice is one of our core offerings and we have eight different tints dependant on customer preference, as well as a wide selection of Revo coatings” says James Pointer, Co-founder of Melon Optics, who are also “both improving the hydrophobic and anti scratch coating as well as adding anti-reflective coatings to the inside of our lenses.”
“Nose pads engineered with two-position adjustability, providing a personal fit while also designed specifically to not pull or catch your hair when worn on top of your head” Joe Snyder, Category Manager Eyewear for Smith
ALL THE COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW Matching the ‘simplistic’ theme, solid lens tints are making a comeback too, especially for the non-performance models from Roxy and Quiksilver, as well as Carve. Electric carry this toned-down vibe over to their frames, exploring “the darker side of earth tones with deep rich green and olives offset in black”
PRESCRIPTION According to Spy, colour is also a trend for prescription glasses: “The main trends we see are in colour. While black tends to be a best seller in sunglasses, consumers are surprisingly daring with their RX frames. We are featuring new colours like Green Smoke and Translucent Sepia to expand the offering.” Dragon is also expanding their RX line “with three new collections targeting our younger consumer base. The Detail collection bridges over from suns into RX featuring our double tail signifier on the frame fronts.” This is the direction Roxy and Quiksilver are heading too, stating that “this market is really important” for them, especially teenagers and kids, 30
photo: Electric
Shred add “wood effect and texture” with a brushed finish and there are a lot of printed frame versions emerging in 2016 as well. Melon “will be concentrating on diversifying our colourways both in our Premium Collection and Original Collections. Think custom acetates and limited edition prints,” similar to Neff, who work with “seasonal patterns”. Dirty Dog also “believe colour will play a key part in 2016, both frame colour and lens colour.”
HIGHLIGHTS Simple, simplistic, simplified Functional lens technology ‘Athleisure’ styling Light & slim
pictorial
SUNGLASSES PICTORIAL
ANIMAL / Line
ANIMAL / Slip
ANIMAL / Rip
CARVE / Porto
CARVE / Crew
CARVE / Hot hot
DIRTY DOG / Vango
DIRTY DOG / Primp
DIRTY DOG / Beast
DRAGON / Watermanx
DRAGON / Roadblock
DRAGON / Monarch
ELECTRIC / Riot
ELECTRIC / Leadfoot
ELECTRIC / Knoxville
GLORIFY / Moonshiner
GLORIFY / Deja Vu
GLORIFY / Bon Voyage
MELON / Anvil
MELON / Tripper
MELON / Layback
NECTAR / Roscoe
NECTAR / Freeport
NECTAR / Tahoe
NEFF / Zero
NEFF / Brodie
NEFF / Jillian
33
pictorial
POC / Did glacier Jeremy Jones
POC / Crave Molybdenite
POC / Aspire Uranium
QUIKSILVER / Chaser
QUIKSILVER / The ferris
QUIKSILVER / Django
ROXY / Joplin
ROXY / Mellow
ROXY / Bridget
SHRED / Lance
SHRED / Belu$ski
SHRED / Axe
SINNER / Santos
SINNER / Red Forrest cx
SINNER / Beech
SMITH / Rockford
SMITH / Ramona
SMITH / Guide choice
URBAN BEACH / Tron wayfarer
URBAN BEACH / Kyle retro cat eye
URBAN BEACH / Hank wayfarer
VON ZIPPER / Plimpton
VON ZIPPER / Howl
VON ZIPPER / Buelah
ZEAL / Cascade
34
ZEAL / Carson
ZEAL / Big Timber
bigwig interview
WILCO PRINS, RIP CURL EUROPEAN CEO Rip Curl was founded back in 1969 by two passionate surfers from Torquay Australia, Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer originally as a surfboard company, which they soon turned into a wetsuit company to prolong those chilly Bell’s Beach surf sessions. Over the decades Rip Curl have grown into a surf company with innovation and product quality at their core, boasting one of the strongest athlete teams in the business. Wilco Prins first started working as an intern for Rip Curl in 1997 and came back permanently in 2000. He has been serving as the company’s European CEO since April 2013. For this issue’s Big Wig interview, Francois Applagnat headed to Rip Curl’s European HQ in Soorts Hossegor to talk to Wilco on matters including innovation, new product segmentation and strategy. Please could you explain Rip Curl’s European operation and history, and how you have segmented your business recently. Rip Curl started in 1969, founded by Brian Singer and Claw Warbrick, in Torquay (Australia). They started making boards, and one day when they were at Bell’s Beach eating a can of beans, Claw, wearing his white bathrobe, cold after his surf, said: “Why don’t we start making wetsuits?” During their travels people were attracted to Brian and Claw, to surfing and to Rip Curl, so Rip Curl started to grow in different regions. In 1983, Rip Curl was implemented here in France in the current structure. Maurice Cole, the famous Australian shaper, was based in Europe and had a license for Rip Curl surfboards. He met Francois Payot, and then Francois Payot started Rip Curl together with Fred Basse around 1983. Rip Curl started to implement their products in different areas around the world, always at a key surfing spots: Torquay, Hossegor, Newquay, Peniche, Trestles, Bali and Brazil. Rip Curl’s vision is to be regarded as the ultimate surfing company, 36
and we have a philosophy: ‘The Search’. We make the best products for people living The Search, and make sure that the crew at Rip Curl can live The Search, because that’s why we’re here – to surf as much as possible. The owners made the ‘company principles and values’, which means the company has the same voice through Rip Curl in all the different regions. The growth of Rip Curl in the different regions was different from region to region and Europe is very specific. We have very few capitals or main cities that are on the coast. The question was, how to develop the brand and talk to the people that are inland as well? That was a learning curve,
One of our brand’s key values is technology, so we use that technology in our products to make sure there is a unique selling point. You can tell a story around your product, and there’s a real consumer benefit.
bigwig interview
where we made good choices but also we made bad choices. We had great growth until 2008. Then we hit the big wall - the global financial crisis. At that same time a new generation that is a lot more critical of brands was growing up. Today a young person buys the best product they can find. We went through a very difficult time, until a point that we said: “Let’s just focus on what Rip Curl really is.” Which is the ultimate surfing company. The first thing to do was to simplify things. Europe is very complicated, different languages, countries, tastes, currencies… You have to focus on the right thing, which for us is to be the ultimate surfing company. If we get that right, then you can go from there, and you will have natural growth instead of pushing for growth. We are focusing on our key products: wetsuits, swimwear, boardshorts, watches, and in winter, technical gear for the mountains. We now have 50 per cent less products today than we had before. One of our brand’s key values is technology, so we use that technology in our products to make sure there is a unique selling point. You can tell a story around your product, and there’s a real consumer benefit. We also worked on our quality. We wanted to make sure that if someone buys a Rip Curl product, they know it will last. And what about your distribution channels? We are no longer in a world where we sell volume anymore. We sell quality. It’s now all about making quality products and being profitable. We’re working on the bottom line. The first decision we made was to be more efficient. We had less products, so we could be more efficient in our buying, which also made it possible to work with less outlet stores, and to absorb the stock through those outlet stores, and not use the Internet as a way of
a lot of research and development in this category. Service is very important here as well. If you have a Rip Curl product, on the warranty you have a service of 48 hour repair. We’re really trying to have a red line of technology running through all our ranges. For example, from wetsuits to swimwear. Start with the ladies G-Bomb collection; you have the Bombshell wetsuits, Bomb Bikini, and Mirage in swimwear. So you have this clear segmentation, but also this clear transition from the technical product, all the way through to the more ‘lifestyle product’. It’s all about making unique selling points. Today tech products are more than 50 per cent of our turnover, in which you can include swimwear, boardshorts, wetsuits, watches and mountain life. And what direction are you taking wetsuits in? With R&D in wetsuits, the focus has always been on how to make our suit warmer and stretchier. Five years ago in Torquay I was still doing wetsuits and we had a great idea at the end of the night. Why don’t we try to make a suit that allows you to have a second surf with a dry suit? That’s when we conceived the Flash Bomb. What is the key thing in wetsuits for the future? We have different projects: Projects where we have a timeline - a deadline. We have products where we say, “That should be done in five years.” We have products we just work on it and see what happens. There’s projects where we see what happens and you come out with products such as the heated wetsuits or Flash Bomb, or a GPS watch, and you bring them out when they’re ready. What will be the next step? If one day we can find a real substitute to Neoprene, which is as
We are focusing on our key products: wetsuits, swimwear, boardshorts, watches, and in winter, technical gear for the mountains. We now have 50 per cent less products today than we had before.
getting rid of old stock. We also looked at our current account base, and thought what we could do to improve our situation with the clients we work well with. We looked at where we were having difficulties in terms of profitability, both for them and for us. And we stopped dealing with some clients. The third thing was; what do we actually want to sell? The future for a brand is not necessarily with a new product. Our battle is more, how can we sell qualitative products with a good story, instead of volume and price? We have our own Rip Curl stores, with a focus on the Atlantic coast. We opened stores like the technical store here in Hossegor and one in Bidart. We opened a pop-up store in Peniche, and we’re building a permanent 300-square metre store in Peniche. All those stores where there’s a lot of surf and tourism are working really well. We focus on key locations, on the coast or in the ski resorts like Chamonix, Alp d’Huez or like Annecy where we are close to the lake. Retail today is around 15 per cent, and then our core network, sport distribution is around 40 per cent and then we have Internet. Internet is difficult to determine, because you have a lot of clients that have, both brick and mortar and that are online. Our key players are Blue Tomato, Surfdome and Junkyard. You have a lot of clients in the UK, for example, that both have a store and they sell online. Wetsuits are around 15 per cent of our turnover but they’re 25 per cent of our investments. It’s a product for which we decided to have our own factory. We have service centres all around the world, and there’s
warm, as flexible, thinner, and environmentally friendly, that would be great. Today, it doesn’t exist. We’ve been working a lot with different partners to find new solutions. You either depend on what’s going to happen with the army, or in the car or aeronautical fields. We have requests to make wetsuits for things like lifeguards and the army. Neoprene is still the material used because it has the best ratio between insulation and stretch. That’s because there’s not a lot of areas where you need that combination. If you look at the car industry, you need insulation but you don’t need the stretch. Could you further explain your earlier mention of the ‘crew’? The senior management level of Rip Curl globally has been with the company for on average 10 to 15 years. It’s a very tight group of people. I think that’s also the key to the success of Rip Curl, because we know exactly what Rip Curl is about. Like we say at Rip Curl. Disney has Mickey Mouse. Rip Curl has its crew. Rip Curl is nothing more than the sum of its history and the emotions and output of its Crew. All the way from Mick Fanning or Gabriel Medina to the people in our stores, in our office or in the warehouse. It’s the passion and the commitment of a crew that’s been there for a long time, and also a new generation of upcoming stars that will create the future of Rip Curl. It’s that sharing of the history, the knowledge of Rip Curl together with a fresh view of today’s market.
37
photo: Section Pole
trend report
HARDER BETTER STRONGER FASTER In the modern age of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, having a camera with you at all times is highly recommendable. How else would all your eager followers be able to become jealous of your every move? For action sports, where you’re prone to miss out on action every millisecond you’re not paying all your attention, it almost seems mandatory to have some sort of image capturing device strapped to yourself. Action sports cameras and not to forget their range of accessories have built up to a considerable chunk of consumers’ spending. Anna Langer finds out what’s new. Report by Anna Langer CAMERA TRENDS ‘Harder better stronger faster’ is not only an anthem for fans of electronic music, but also an ethos for the development of electronic devices that strive to deliver faster while working harder and becoming ever more tough. The new GoPro Session is packed down to the size of its lens, while still delivering highest quality imagery that is sharper than your eye will be able to realize. “Hardware is getting smaller while quality and resolution is growing” as GoPro’s European Senior Media Relations Manager Isabel Pakowski sums it up. Garmin add information on speed and location through their G-Metrix and Sab Jhooti, Founder of Drift names “mobile live streaming, higher video resolution and frame rates” as well as “smaller sizes” as their main innovations for 2015, while at the same time there is also a clear “desire to make it easy for people to share their video footage,” add TomTom, with easier-to-use camera interfaces, LED remotes and LCD displays. HIGH TECH HD Filming is already a standard, even for entry level models and most high end cameras are equipped with 4k resolution filming, with up to 30 frames-per-second on the GoPro Hero4 Black. For 1080 resolutions, you can get up to 120 fps from Sony, sized down to 720 there’s even as much as 240 fps possible, “meaning that the user can easily show super slow-mo footage which is incredibly impactful,” says Alexandre Devulder, Product Manager of Cameras Europe for Sony.
Garmin take it even further by adding GPS information to their video footage through the already mentioned G-Metrix, that uses an integrated motion sensor (G-Sensor), a barometric altimeter and a GPS receiver to collect data on speed and height, affecting gravity forces and much more. The ANT+ interface even allows a connection with additional sensors to measure heart rate, pedal frequency and so on. “All of this can be displayed in the video with various widgets” Markus Müller of the CRAFT – GARMIN customer service explains. But the most amazing footage in the very best of image quality is still not enjoyable though if all you see is a shaking screen. Hence image stabilisation has become more of an issue, that can very successfully be addressed with accessories as you’ll learn a bit further down, but Sony also try a more direct approach to that issue. “The advances that we’ve made in Steadyshot technology are incredibly important for sports users who are often filming in high speed situations where camera shake can turn a great piece of footage into something that is un-watchable,” says Alexandre and continues: “Picture quality and ease of use are what sports users are demanding most from manufacturers. When we have launched new models, we have paid special attention to the image stabilisation technologies that we deploy in new models with the specific goal of helping users get end results that they are proud to share.” 39
trend report
Harder better stronger faster’ is not only an anthem for fans of electronic music, but also an ethos for the development of electronic devices that strive to deliver faster while working harder and becoming ever more tough.
DISPLAYS & REMOTES Displays and remote controls can also play a role in producing something to be proud of and happy to share. Displays make it easier to navigate and adjust the camera to fit the current conditions. “The TomTom Bandit Action Camera has a very energy efficient display, maximizing battery life, and allowing users to easily setup the settings on their camera.” If the display includes a video preview like the Drift Ghost-S colour LCD with video preview and playback, it can be used for framing as well and thus help generate even nicer footage too. Holders of cameras without preview displays should not worry though, as this feature is also available through camera supporting software, such as the Garmin VIRB App or the GoPro mobile app. They also work as remote controls, as most brands only include such extra devices for their most high-end models. New kids on the camera block Rayen are even teaming up “to bundle world-class editing software free of charge to our customers with each Rayen camera purchase,” tied in with the release of their new Gold Edition Camera, says Donovan. USER-EXPERIENCE Displays and remotes can already enhance users experience with their camera a lot, letting them switch between settings in an easily understandable manner and making mis-framed footage of heads in the clouds a view of the past. TomTom take it even further, offering “the easiest way to edit and share video highlights.” In detail, they explain: “A few years ago action cameras were mostly for professional athletes, but now the market is opening up to a completely new audience. And that’s where we think we can make a difference: for the people who don’t want to spend hours and hours editing their footage on a high-end computer, but simply want to share their adventures in minutes.” Drift also expect a “general move away from standard POV footage only”, speaking drones, monopods and gimbals, making accessories more important. Rayen have an answer to that with their new Gold Edition that “will feature a waterproof RF remote, 360 Degree lockable quick clip mount, 1.5 inch LCD, and be bundled with over $50 of prime accessories, offering simply the best value for money in the market!” ACCESSORIES It looks like the importance of camera accessories and the choices available in this segment are growing with the same speed and vigour that camera possession is spreading through the action sports population. Just a camera, no matter how amazing its technology is, won’t achieve the same wow-effect as a distinct angle or unique perspective. The SP Smart Mount is catering for exactly that with a myriad of possibilities to fix your camera to almost anything you like. For everyone taking their action to the water, they’ve just extended their Floating Section System, that, you guessed it floats. “Both of them are unique modular systems that can be adapted to cater the needs of the customer. We will extend the range of both new systems in the next months,” explains Rob Mathera, Marketing & Communication at SP. Other examples include the new Jivo GoGear neoprene shoulder mounts with Velcro fastening, or their neoprene wrist cuff with 360 mount; the new Garmin bike mount for camera and GPS; the GoPro quadcopter that is expected in 2016; or the TomTom 360 Pitch Mount, that “uniquely positions the camera lens very close to the mounted 40
surface minimizing vibrations” which is very valuable especially for footage of sports in action, as already mentioned above. “The accessory market is moving towards more multi-function based accessories” says Keith Bannon, Business Development at Jivo and continues: “also, personal comfort is being concentrated on, to ensure the users experience is the best possible.” Jivo address this with their GoGear Cuff that launched in August and “is not only a wrist mount, but also has 360 degrees lockable mount.” Action cam accessories veterans Xsories, are rated number one seller of poles in France according to Global Marketing Manager Ryan Roberts, and the brand address the issue of steady imagery with their new X-Steady Electro 1 Axis, a single axis electronic camera stabiliser that works with phones too. “Our HorizonDrive ensures your horizon stays where nature intended, significantly reduces shaking and allows you to follow dynamic subjects and focus on them, without the hassle of focussing on your camera’s orientation instead. Best of all, there’s no external wires, it’s really easy to set up and balance and it’s been tested by us, in the real world - not a donkey on inline skates.”
“Future cameras will be waterproofed and have no need for additional housing, sound recording quality will be improved, and live broadcast will become standard. -Rayen’s Managing Director Donovan Marais With smartphone cameras topping up on quality with every version, mobiles easily become action sport cameras as well, offering the huge advantage of already being in everyone’s pocket all the time anyway. Hence SP are working on the “integration of cell phones into our line of products,” says Rob, “we believe that modular systems as ours will be the future.” New accessories company BlackEye directly address this with their Twister+, a “superfisheye lens with screw on attachment, developed to capture awesome fisheye video when skateboarding, snowboarding etc.” explains Marketing Manager Joni Granath. OUTLOOK With the sheer number of high tech gadgets available to the average Joe these days, it can sometimes feel like the future is already here. And in a way, it already is, as the GoPro Hero4 Session shows: “It benefits from a durable waterproof design that eliminates the need for a separate housing and features simple one-button control to make capturing immersive photos and video quicker and more convenient than ever before,” says Isabel, confirming Donovan of Rayen’s vision that “future cameras will be waterproofed and have no need for additional housing, sound recording quality will be improved, and live broadcast will become standard.”
HIGHLIGHTS Small & light High Resolution Easy Editing Steady Images
ride o’meter
SURF MEDIA ANALYTICS RIDE O’METER Tracking action sports media content globally, through print, web, online videos and social networks, RIDE O’METER is showcasing a selection of the early 2015 surf season highlights. Presented by RIDE O’METER.COM
WEB / EVENT RANKING
TOP 5
RANKING
EVENT
1
Quiksilver Pro Goldcoast 2015
2
Volcom Pipe Pro 2015
241 995 ¤
759
3
Hurley Australian Open of Surfing 2015
229 965 ¤
469
4
Winter Session 2014/2015
159 096 ¤
129
5
Surfest Burton Automotive Pro 2015
104 238 ¤
321
EXPOSURE VALUE CLIPPINGS
361 785 ¤
1 380
This ranking shows the events exposure through our representative surfing web media panel composed of 50 of the most accurate international surfing websites. On top of the rankings, we find two of the most exciting shows of the early season; the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast followed by the stunning Volcom Pipe Pro, two highlights of the “winter season”. Focusing on the first quarter of the season, we unsurprisingly find two Australian events in the top 5. An interesting fact to note is the presence of Winter Session, an online competition (in association with Nixon and Monster Energy) among the event ranking, thanks to an exclusive and strategic partnership with Magic Seaweed (159 K¤ exposure).
Period analysed: 1/1/2015 - 31/3/2015
VIDEOS / BRAND RELATED
TOP 5 NB OF WEEKS ONLINE
MAIN BRANDS FEATURED
21 926 521
37
SAMSUNG
4 722 771
30
SAMSUNG
Garrett McNamara rides 90 Foot Wave
2 595 310
196
GOPRO
Who is JOB 3.0 - EP 6
1 020 669
157
REDBULL
Pipe Master 2014 - Jamie O’Brien
1 008 299
35
GOPRO, BILLABONG, REDBULL
RANKING
VIDEO NAME
1
La maniobra: Bob Burnquist vs Gabriel Medina
2
El Desafío: Bob Burnquist vs. Gabriel Medina
3 4 5
VIEWS
Period analysed : 1/1/2015 - 31/3/2015 This ranking shows the most viewed “surf videos” compiling the number of views from six video platforms (YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion, Surfline, Mpora and Epic TV) between January 1 and March 31 2015. From Samsung Hollywood-style advertising to massive wave rides by Garett McNamara, it shows how the impact of surf related videos can reach further than the surf community boundaries and audience. Jamie O’Brien gives a fine example of this with his unconventional and funny alternative to the core surf “déjà vus”. 42
ride o’meter
SOCIAL / RIDERS
MATCHUP
July 19 2015, Mick Fanning was victim to a shark attack during the Jbay Open, one of the most shocking events in the history of the WSL/ASP. Straight after this vision of horror, the web collapsed with social sharing convulsions, more than 19 million views in two days on the web (only from exclusive World Surf League videos). Taking a look at the social networks, Mick Fanning witnessed a 30% fan growth only a few days after the incident, and became one of the most obvious “social buzz” figures of the year with three million interactions cumulated on related posts from the surf scene including brands, riders, media and contributor’s accounts.
VS
TOP POSTS RIDERS From Ricardo Dos Santos brutal disappearing to the birth of Bethany Hamilton’s son, here are the most highlighted posts since January.
Bethany HAMILTON 1 010 318 likes 56 958 shares 28 148 comments
MICK FANNING
THE SHARK
10 DAYS BEFORE
48 FOLLOWING HRS
10 DAYS AFTER
337 818
Total Related interactions 2 939 238
725 023
20 150
Fanning own interactions 105 583
255 829
904 K
Total Fans
Gabriel MEDINA 299 802 likes 3 436 comments
1 211 K
Bethany HAMILTON
PRINT / COVER RANKING
TOP 5
RANKING
BRAND
TOTAL EXPOSURE
NB OF COVERS
1
Hurley
68 166 ¤
4
2
Redbull
47 180 ¤
2
3
Oakley
43 496 ¤
2
4
Lost
25 746 ¤
2
5
Monster Energy
24 746 ¤
2
Period analysed : 1/1/2015 - 31/3/2015
8 278 likes 3 424 shares This features the top five brands that have “scored” the most cover pages of surf magazines (in value and number) through their riders globally, between January and March 2015. Hurley sits on top thanks to Kolohe Andino and Julian Wilson who made two consecutive aerial covers of Surfing Magazine but also thanks to the new Brazilian star, Filipe Toledo (Hardcore cover, Brazilian magazine). This all leads to the ranking of Red Bull (2nd), Oakley (3rd), and Monster Energy (5th) who obviously know how to deal with logo exposure on surfboards and leverage such exposure. We also note the appearance of Lost in the ranking thanks to a perfect match up between the creative Australian magazine STAB and the ground breaking surfer Mason Ho.
Hungry for more ? Drop us a line at info@rideometer.com 43
photo: Rip Curl
trend report
WATCHES: TIME FOR SOME ACTION Are ‘smart’ watches taking over the boardsport watches business – or is there still room for action-specific performance? SOURCE’s Dirk Vogel has the newest trends that boardsport retailers need to watch. When the Apple Watch launched amid much fanfare in April of this year, the watches industry seemed like the next market laid to waste by digital disruption. Silicon Valley had done it again. Why would consumers still want anything besides a shiny new ‘smart’ watch with hundreds of apps, notifications, and messages right at their fingertips? And from an industry perspective, why should timehonoured watches brands even bother making ‘regular’ timepieces with style and precision? Turns out, not everybody wants to stare at their watch instead of their phone; at least not just yet. Interest in the Apple Watch already took a harsh dip – sales declined 90% within three months by July (CNN) – and action-oriented watch companies still have faith in well-made,
“$150 to $250 is a sweet spot and $500 to $750 is the ceiling right now.” Joe Babcock, Nixon Category Manager for Technical Products.
functional timepieces. “Some interesting research we undertook amongst over 7,000 industry people and outdoor enthusiasts revealed that over 50% aren’t interested in another frequently rechargeable, wearable device such as the smart watch,” said Ian Elliot, Co-Founder of UK-based brand Elliot Brown Watches. At Electric, Caroline Piechaud clearly states: “We don’t consider ‘smart’ watches as competition.” Also keep in mind that boardsports consumers have their own
specific needs when it comes to performance features. “I’m sure that this device is amazing for other uses but not for surfing – as it isn’t waterproof,” notes Borja Torres at Rip Curl Europe. Similar performance requirements are shared across all boardsports, says Christian Dittrich, Junior Key Account Manager for G-Shock watches at Casio: “Never mind if you are a skateboarder, surfer, or snowboarder – all athletes have the same expectations. Watches should be water resistant, shock resistant, and comfortable to wear. No problem for our G-Shock watches.” PRICE POINTS: SWEET SPOTS AND PREMIUM POSITIONING Over the years, boardsports watches have come a long way in offering quality and reliable performance. And that’s a good thing, because customer expectations are high in the watches segment; as opposed to, let’s say, sunglasses where brands can still get by with sugarcoating cheap, interchangeable product in saccharine marketing messages. Most boardsports watches these days are Swiss-made and offer 5-year warrantees at return rates under 1%, as well as numerous technical features that justify three-digit price points. “For basic watches selling in boardsport retail, it’s hard to go above $100 without any technological features,” said Kirsten Taylor, International Marketing Manager at Neff. Most of the retail action gravitates around what is indeed a ‘sweet’ spot in terms of margins and volumes, while brands report a surprisingly elevated benchmark for exclusive, high-value product. “$150 to $250 is a sweet spot and $500 to $750 is the ceiling right now,” said Joe Babcock, Nixon Category Manager for Technical Products. The latter may seem high, but Christian at G-Shock 45
trend report
“Some interesting research we undertook amongst over 7,000 industry people and outdoor enthusiasts revealed that over 50% aren’t interested in another frequently rechargeable, wearable device such as the smart watch,” said Ian Elliot, Co-Founder of UK-based brand Elliot Brown Watches.
confirms: “The main price points in the lower/mid price segment are from ¤89,90 to ¤149. Professional athletes and G-Shock collectors don’t mind paying ¤500 and more for a watch that meets their expectations and provides the requested functions.” FUNCTIONALITY: ENHANCING THE EXPERIENCE Even without juggling dozens of apps on ‘smart’ interfaces, boardsport watches are far from ‘dumb’, and endemic brands are already serving this segment with surf-specific functionality. “Smart and Connected watches are the biggest trend we expected to see in 2015. We saw this coming as far back as 2010, and began working on ideas and development as to how we would enter this category. In 2015 we launched the Ultratide, the world’s first real-time surf conditions watch, and that was our first watch in the Smart and Connected category,” said Joe at Nixon. California-based Electric is focused on offering, “style and performance for every situation, which means featuring extremely robust functions such as clear time and date, water rating, tide and chronograph,” said PR manager Caroline Piechaud. Enhancing the surf experience by putting real-time tide information on surfers’ wrists is also the motive behind Rip Curl’s Search GPS watch. “Even if it’s been in the market for longer than a year we keep pushing it, as it’s the only watch in the market that tracks your surf during the session,” said Borja Torres. The Search GPS watch and app lets users track wave count, top speed, length of ride and session time. “We consider this model as an electronic device, not just a watch.” Even out of the water, boardsports watches are packing high tech. “G-Shock offers tidegraph (surfers), barometer (snowboarders), and there is demand Bluetooth watches with special functions like music control and incoming call and SMS alert,” said Christian Dittrich at G-Shock. MATERIALS: RUGGED AND SLEEK Materials for watch casings fall into two camps – plastic and metal. For flashy, upscale watch models, titanium and stainless steel reign supreme, while silicone and resin offer rugged casings for performance watches. The latter includes G-Shock: “We continue our success story with resin cases and resin wristbands. But you will also find stainless steel G-Shocks in our premium segment.” Stainless steel and titanium casings are key in almost all line-ups, including Nixon, Electric, Elliot Brown, and Rip Curl. Meanwhile, the ‘plastics’ segment is trending towards fun, ‘80s-style digital displays, including Neff’s Odyssey Watch with double-injected ABS/silicone case and silicone strap. Electric has a pretty-looking digital model called the Prime adhering to the ethos: “Look to the past to see the future. With a nod to the ‘80s in its geometric sleekness, and constructed from new high tech materials, the Prime is digitized for the modern era,” says Caroline at Electric California. Speaking of straps, there’s a trend towards bespoke, fine leathers. “We’ve searched out new strapping materials and produced short hand-made runs of what we call ‘pull-up’ leathers that start out matt with a slight nap. They wear smooth over time and age beautifully like a leather belt,” said Ian Elliot at Elliot Brown Watches. Joe at Nixon confirmed this trend: “For our leather editions of the Ranger, we use high quality full grain leathers and in some cases it’s USA made Horween leather.” For performance in an upscale package, Electric’s Carroway Automatic model is, “offered in a custom Italian tanned leather band with custom stainless steel closure, or polyester nato 46
style strap with custom hardware.” COLOURS: FLAIR VS. UNDERSTATEMENT Colourways are divided between upscale, polished watches that blend leather straps and metal casings, and plastic watches with interesting colourways. As Christian at G-Shock puts it: “The current big trends are decent watches with detailed accents, as well as coloured watches with stylish patterns like camouflage, polarized marble or flower patterns. But we also will put the focus on the top colour – black! Therefore we created a series named ‘Mission Black.’” Black on black models are available from all brands, including Electric’s sleek Carroway Automatic watch. LIFESTYLE: DIFFERENT SCENARIOS Today’s customers treat watches as an accessory and choose different watches for different situations. “Our research tells us there’s a split between those who love wrist tech and those who simply want a robust reliable time piece. They’re quite different things as one is more like an appliance and the other is something that has a propensity to develop a much stronger emotional bond due to a difference in perceived build quality and longevity,” said Ian Elliot at Elliot Brown Watches, adding: “Testing every watch in 200m of water helps, too!” When it comes to playing the fashion card, the most interesting offerings come from brands that target this category as part of their brand identity: “Neff Time is considered eye candy for your wrist. Our watches are a fashion accessory. We see opportunity in adding colour, cool details and different materials,” said Kirsten Taylor at Neff, pointing out the Esteban PU with a stainless steel case and woven NATO strap. And for a watch that does it all, Joe at Nixon suggests: “Nixon’s Ranger franchise is a key story for us in 2015/2016. It’s a field watch that is both rugged and easy to dress up and down and comes in different case sizes, materializations, chrono- and non-chrono options.” OUTLOOK Plastic VS. metal, style VS. tech, lifestyle VS. performance – now you know what time it is in boardsports watches retail. And while ‘smart’ watches are still a minor phenomenon, their day is sure to come. “Casio has been developing a wrist device that the company aims to announce at the International CES 2016. The company intends to introduce the wrist device that shows Casio’s strong suit, thus differentiating it from other smart watches,” said Christian Dittrich, while other brands confirmed similar efforts. Until then, enjoy the times when surfing allows you to literally catch a ‘break’ from emails, notifications, and status updates, even if it is just for a few minutes.
HIGHLIGHTS No market disruption from ‘smart’ watches (Apple Watch)… yet. Surf-tech watches record tides, predict waves, log top speeds, and pair via Bluetooth. High-end leather straps, titanium casing. Black remains #1 colour. Low-fi digital displays booming like it’s 1985. Separate watches for different lifestyle scenarios (e.g. sports VS. chill).
retailer help
THE LOST GENERATION Around 30 years ago, the skateboard industry in Europe experienced a rare event: a complete market cycle without external influences, the jackpot in terms of theorising about the behaviour of a market. This is where the idea of a Lost Generation sprung from and it might explain, among other things, why the crisis of 2008 was harder for us than elsewhere. Report by Iker Aguirre. The concept of a ‘Lost Generation’ was already dealt with in issue number 15 of Source, granted, a long time ago! With today’s wealth of market studies, EuroSIMA can corroborate this theory and help understand a phenomenon that, added to the crisis, makes a turnaround even more difficult. A QUESTION OF GENERATIONS Stay sharp because this is where it all happens! Humans evolve by cycles of seven years. At one given time in the ‘80s there were three individuals: one new born (0), a child (7) and a teenager (14). At 0 the baby has no perspective on life. At 7, the child is under the guidance of his parents, his omniscient, all-powerful examples. At 14, the teenager rebels against his parents and society. He asserts himself and seeks to satisfy three fundamental needs: differentiation, belonging and self-fulfilment. Nothing like skateboarding to meet these needs! Codes that are out of the box, a closed clan with strong identity, a demanding, technical sport that pays its dues immediately, it’s got it all.
studies, professional careers and the first serious relationships. Skateboarding loses the battle against age. The child who is entering adolescence turns elsewhere for sources of inspiration, heroes and a new, different identity to that of his parents. The ‘big kids’ who led the charge of influence are leaving skateboarding. His three needs as a teenager are the same but hears all the excuses that the hardcore skaters of old use to justify leaving the church: “I have to stop”, “I’m broken all over”, “it’s too expensive”, “it hurts too much”, “I’ve got more important things to do…” Basically, with a lack of inspiration, if he wants to be cool, he’ll have to find something other than skateboarding. He sets himself up far away from skateboarding and becomes the flag bearer of a ‘Lost Generation’.
At 3, the baby is still learning about the world. The child, at 10, plays and watches the ‘big kids’ from afar who are often seen as vandals on wheels making their mothers worried (don’t forget, this is skateboarding in the ‘80s). The teenager is 17, living for skateboarding. It satisfies his needs well but he starts to suffer his first big injuries, (sprained ankles, knees, wrists, contusions…)
THE INCOMPRESSIBLE DEMAND Next to this lot, a handful of diehards still live just for skating. The purists, the no-matter-whats, the guarantors of the survival of skate culture and its codes. Whatever the state of the market, whatever their age, they will be skaters forever. They represent an incompressible and sustainable demand. They are the guarantors of an industry’s survival. Nevertheless, if their numbers are insufficient, as was the case at the end of the ‘80s/early ‘90s, their demand does not provide the required minimum volumes to ensure the survival of the industry. Lack of demand, lack of supply: skateboarding’s decline accelerates.
THE LOST GENERATION Four years later, our skater is 21 and his priorities have changed. His autonomous base has been created and his adolescence is over. His need for identity is not the same any more. Skateboarding loses its appeal. Too complicated, demanding of time and physically brutal, it’s left by the wayside in favour of other interests like
We lived through this debacle at the start of the ‘90s. At the height of skateboarding’s success, the company Hoff, distributor in France for the leading brand Powell Peralta, imported a container of 40+ decks per week. A few years later, they had trouble shifting even the most laughable quantities. Skateboarding was dead, condemned for seven years by a ‘Lost Generation’ who had refused to take the reins.
A handful of diehards still live just for skating. The purists, the no-matter-whats, the guarantors of the survival of skate culture and its codes. Whatever the state of the market, whatever their age, they will be skaters forever. They represent an incompressible and sustainable demand. They are the guarantors of an industry’s survival. 49
retailer help
THE COMEBACK We had to wait until the baby became a teenager to rediscover skateboarding. An underground discipline, its ‘coolness’ factor was kept intact by the no-matter-whats. The cycle restarts. Growth, success and an incompressible base demand that rises and surpasses the critical industry-survival threshold. The sport itself and its commerce are perpetuated, beyond market cycles.
The crisis might be the only cause of these variations in demand and not the ‘Lost Generation’. The markets have become much more complex since the ‘80s and there are multiple external interactions. Isolating one single factor today has become almost impossible. Drawing up a theory needs clear-cut elements to isolate a theoretical phenomenon. Things are more diffuse in reality.
THE FIGURES For almost 20 years I’ve applied various theories on cycles affecting our industry when adapting my strategies to markets and the countries I was doing business in. The results obtained and the empirical practice have proved to me that they were well-founded. So how satisfying it was when the NPD market study figures, ordered by EuroSIMA, allowed me to corroborate this theory.
With all care taken, if this theory is correct, we can expect the following: An upturn of sales in our markets with the sustainable arrival of a new generation of passionate participants; Positive growth of our market indicators for the next seven years; Preparation for this rise to minimise the effect of the next ‘Lost Generation’ on the 2020-2025 horizon through, amongst other things, extending our targeting strategy past the 15-25 year olds; The reinforcement of the incompressible base of boardsports adepts who will ensure sustainable demand for endemic companies and the perpetuation of boardsports culture; A possible renewal of the boardsports ‘fashion’ phenomenon; Future periods of dearth where it’s better to be wise about investments and to live off your assets. If the boardsports market does start “going for the better”, people might tend to forget the traumas of the years between 2008-2015 and restart as if “nothing even happened.” Beware if so! We have learned some very important lessons and we should show enough maturity to apply this. What paradigm will we subscribe to? Are we wearing green-tinted glasses (Source issue 77)? Or will we flee far away from the ‘new paradigm’ roots of our boardsports DNA? It’s up to us to assume responsibility for keeping the boardsports dream alive, the dream we all love so much. After all, this industry has been all about heart since the beginning.
The ‘Pool Benchmark’ relates to the sports market in general, whose figures can be compared with that of the boardsports market. On this chart you can clearly see the ‘Lost Generation’ phenomenon represented by a drop in sales in the 15-35 year-olds, a drop accentuated by the crisis of buying power in 2008. When you compare it to the Benchmark you can see that the phenomenon is particular to boardsports. It should be noted that from 2010 there is a turnaround (more than for the Benchmark) amongst the next generation, the 0-14 year olds. A good sign for the future of our industry!
100 %
6,5 %
6,2 %
6,0 %
6,1 %
77
2012
2013
5,6 %
%
Here we see the mark of the ‘Lost Generation’ from 2008-2013 with a drop in sales followed by a stabilisation. If the theory is correct, starting from 2014/15, they should start increasing again. The % oscillations between 2012/2013 could be an indication of a change of trend.
15
Be sure to interpret this data with care:
2008
2009
2010
2011
Chart: Market share of 15-35s, pool boardsports from 2008-2013, €% Source: NPD Consumer Tracking Panel - EuroSIMA
If the theory is correct, starting from 2014/15, they should start increasing again. The oscillations between 2012/2013 could be an indication of a change of trend.
50
photo: Loaded / Duster
trend report
LOOKING DOWN THE LONG ROAD AHEAD As the longboard market continues to mature, brands are finding growth opportunities in premium and niche product lines, including “flat ground dancing.” With new labels and manufacturers still coming on board – Hello, Penny longboards! – our Boardsport SOURCE trend report breaks down the action. By Dirk Vogel. Computer marketing genius Bill Gates famously said: “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten.” Applying these insights to the longboard business, it’s obvious that the market has changed dramatically compared to ten years ago, when longboards were still a sideshow act for most skate shops. Over the past two years, longboards have radically advanced into becoming a centre stage attraction as major growth drivers and revenue generators at many stores. But looking at the next ten years, what’s ahead for longboards in the long run? Most brand representatives in the segment remain optimistic, including Shane Maloney at Madrid Skateboards: “Longboarding, or more generally soft-wheel skateboarding, is bringing people into skate shops who didn’t previously identify with the ethos of street skateboarding, which had dominated the industry for decades.
Skateboarding is not only about jumping down 20-stairs, spinning mega-ramp 1080s, or hitting 100km/h in a full tuck. Soft-wheel skateboarding has reminded people how fun simply cruising and carving can be. A lot more people can identify with that approach to skateboarding.” The optimistic mood is buoyed by promising results, with most brands reporting increased sales on a year-on-year basis. As Steve Douglas at Dwindle brand Dusters California reports: “Our Long board business is up is up 50% in the past year and our cruisers are up 13% in EMEA and 26% up as a brand globally.” For 2015, Andy King at Mindless Longboards reports an increase of 55% YTD, but he also notices more specialization in the segment: “There is still a place for entry level boards to get younger riders in to the sport. But riders are certainly pushing the boundaries and needing ever more niche/technical intricacies to boards. We see longboarding having another good year in 2016 with new markets continuing to grow and established markets carrying on at hopefully a similar level to 2015.”
“Skateboarding is not only about jumping down 20-stairs, spinning mega-ramp 1080s, or hitting 100km/h in a full tuck. Soft-wheel skateboarding has reminded people how fun simply cruising and carving can be. A lot more people can identify with that approach to skateboarding.” Shane Maloney at Madrid Skateboards
53
trend report
“The European market is by far not as saturated as the US market and is still growing while the US Market reached its plateau in certain segments.” Mike Jucker, Co–Founder of Jucker Hawaii Longboards.
A WORD OF CAUTION! Despite this widespread optimism, the ghost of market saturation is starting to rear its ugly head in the U.S. where trends traditionally tend to be one year ahead of Europe. Several brands responded like Mike Jucker, Co–Founder of Jucker Hawaii Longboards: “The European market is by far not as saturated as the US market and is still growing while the US Market reached its plateau in certain segments.” This sentiment is echoed by Marin McGinnis at Rayne Longboards, who reported “overall gains internationally with a softening in the USA.” Keeping a close ear to the streets, Steve Douglas at Dusters confirmed: “The outlook for Dusters in EMEA is more growth. In the US, after speaking with key retailers, the drastic longboard and cruiser growth has definitely slowed. But after years upon years of growth it makes sense that things have cooled down.” Whether or not this signals a knee in the growth curve for Europe in the next year remains to be seen – but to say it again, trends tend to follow the U.S. with about one year of lag time. NEW BLOOD: BRANDS AND CONSUMERS Attracted by growth, new companies keep pushing into the category, including Brunotti, who are banking on, “easy access drop trough boards, which suits our mission ‘#getonboard’ where we try to get everybody on a board,” said Frank Uyt den Bogaard – Creative Marketing Director at Brunotti. Shiner distribution’s new brand, D Street, has already been doing great, said Karl Martinez: “We have had a phenomenal year with sales up 92% YOY, we are still a young company but really climbing up the ladder now in Europe.” Other newcomers include OBFIVE, described by Brand Director Kris O’Brien, “as more of a surf/skate/lifestyle brand. We are focusing on delivering our brand message to a broader market in 2015.” Based in Frankfurt, “Nice Skateboard is enjoying a fast growth and development. With a jumpstart in 2014, the company is now to embark on its fourth production run of the first 20 models of longboards and is about to release 28 new models up until the beginning of 2016. In the first run we focused on all kinds of dropthrough longboards,” said general manager Gerd Weisner. Even Penny Australia is moving along, introducing their first plastic longboard at an RRP of £149.99 in a variety of primary colours with matching trucks and wheels. Penny Skateboards founder Ben Mackay says: “As a skater, I want to ride a unique longboard; one that handles completely different from all others on the market; and we certainly couldn’t ignore the growing Penny community, who have been asking for a longboard for quite some time.” Along with their entry into longboarding, Penny shared some consumer insights from a Penny global fan survey of 7,966 people: “44.8% of those who own a second skateboard ride a longboard for cruising, while 22.5% ride a longboard for downhill.” At Dwindle, Steve Douglas also had interesting news about demographics: “Our main target is still around 18-24 year-old men but we have seen a big increase with younger kids at 13-17 and a much bigger following and engagement of girls. For 2016 we will definitely invest in this expansion so the outlook is to see that increasing even more!” THE EUROPEAN MARKET Generally speaking, it’s a more mixed bag says Marin at Rayne Longboards: “The European market is much more diverse than the North American market. We see many more regional trends in Europe than we do in N. America.” At the same time, Andreas “Maui” Maurmeir at Sector 9 Europe sees the scene becoming more diverse 54
in terms of riding styles and products: “Europe gets more and more open for traditional US dominated skate terrains such as mini freeride boards or longer and more sophisticated park boards. That took a long time in Europe!” Breaking down preferences in the European market by territory, Don Tashman at Loaded said: “Flatland dancing and freestyle are somewhat more prevalent in Northern Europe and have a much stronger community and events. European cities generally lend themselves better to skateboards as transportation than US cities do, and we’ve found a strong growth in our commuting and carving line because of this.” On the positive side, Matt Wong, President of Globe’s product division noted: “In Europe we’ve been doing especially well with boards with higher end woods and design features – which also carry higher price points. For example our Cabin Series, which features styles like The Cutler has done really well. These boards combine nicely finished walnut veneers with unique mother of pearl inlays for a really highend finish.” PRICE POINTS FOR 2016 Speaking of ‘high-end finish’ and premium constructions, these are also the main drivers behind an elevated price point ceiling for longboard completes, says Mike Jucker: “Paying top money for a board is OK if the quality goes along with it. We have found that the average consumer is willing to spend +/- ¤200 for a good quality board. After that the market becomes smaller.” As Chris Brunstetter, Marketing Director at the Goldcoast Skateboard Co. breaks down 2016 pricing: “Longboards seem to be at a ¤190 sweet spot, decks ¤100, trucks ¤50 per set, and wheels ¤35-¤40.” In the long run, smart pricing policies are the only way forward, said Maui at Sector 9: “Curate your customer and you name the price. We are no discounter. That kills it all.” THE 7 BIGGEST LONGBOARD MARKET TRENDS Looking at top-secret product previews from leading brands for next season, the following seven major trends emerge in the longboard market: 1. Specialization and sub-sections. Europe has come a long way from one-size-fits-all entry-level boards, so retailers need to know their audience and adjust their line-ups accordingly. “The longboard market is more mature in Europe than it is in Australia. We find that Europe have a lot more emphasis on downhill riding and dropthrough styles, and therefore offer a lot of different shapes and sizes to cater for this market,” said Kris O’Brien, Brand Director at OBFIVE. Two hot new trends include ‘dancing’ on boards, as well as commuter boards with technology under the hood. 2. My second board is a carver. Consumer behaviour is trending towards building quivers with different boards for different situations. Nate at Landyachtz confirms: “Customers are beginning to collect longboards and having specific shapes for specific riding styles. This is great news for 2016 as an entire market is opening up from the average person who is cruising for fun, to the commuter, to the downhill freerider.” Mindless Longboards are supporting this trend: “Our price points for twin tip, drop through and freeride boards are more affordable than before, allowing consumers to upgrade and change boards more frequently and add more boards to their personal range.”
3. Shapes: Drop-Thru is king! While diversity is growing in terms of riding styles (see 1.), we seem to have a clear winner in the shapes game, as Chris at GoldCoast reported: “Europe is selling a ton more dropthroughs than the US for us! General outlook is that our business is going to shift more towards dropthrough models, and inching up the price point.” This trending shape is taking away from previous category leaders, said Nathan Pauli, VP Sales at Origin Distribution (DB Longboards): “Twin tip dropthrough shapes have continued to grow in popularity and seem to attract an increasing number of first time buyers who would have previously purchased a pintail board.” 4. Elaborate details in the premium segment. The trend towards elaborate wood laminates continues, supported by upscale finishes and prints. Ross Bradley, International Sales Manager at Osprey: “For 2016 we have added an ever wider mix of styles and colour palettes including tie-die patterns and photographic designs which appeal to a broadening longboard demographic such as the growing female longboard market. We have a sweet new laseretched deck in our top end range, which is completely different to anything out there.” Meanwhile, Jucker Hawaii is, “working with more sustainable materials. We do not like plastic even if in some areas the trend seems to go that way.” At newcomers Brunotti, the “main material is an 8-ply wood construction and our new bamboo glass fibre sandwich construction.” 5. Technology is the future. Speaking of the race for new R&D, Don at Loaded Longboards made a funny observation: “Thermoplastic construction like Bustin uses makes sense and could end up being the future of composite construction. The hollowtech construction
Andreas “Maui” Maurmeir at Sector 9 Europe sees the scene becoming more diverse in terms of riding styles and products: “Europe gets more and more open for traditional US dominated skate terrains such as mini freeride boards or longer and more sophisticated park boards. That took a long time in Europe!”
from Landyachtz is sick. The use of recycled plastic fishnets by Bureo is inspiring. And the ‘fat-bottom’ style constructions of Rayne and Icone are ingenious. At Loaded we’ve converted all our boards to a new construction made from cloned mastodon tusks in a forged nano technology spider web matrix.” Marin at Rayne is stoked because, “our customer base continues to lose their mind when we release Dee-lite versions of our boards because they are just as strong as the standard version, but 15% lighter.” 6. Accessories with an edge. Wheel colours are bringing heavy 1980s neon flavours into the mix, while the entire set-up tends to be colourcoordinated. Maui at Sector 9 confirms: “We can say that colour tuning becomes more and more demanded. The wheels need the right colour with the deck and so on. Especially in the classic ranges like carving and cruising.” Meanwhile, Sector 9 has been “killing it” with downhill gloves and slide gloves, said Griffin Halpern, International Sales Manager Griffin Halpern. And while retailers are stocking up 56
photo: Landyachtz
trend report
on gloves, Nathan at Origin also points out the latest tech from Atlas: “The Atlas Touch glove will bring cell phone friendly touch finger technology to the slide glove category for the first time. No need to remove your gloves to take pictures or send text messages!” 7. Don’t try to do it all. For retailers, the main mantra for 2016 is: Know yourself (and your customers) and stay the course, instead of trying to do it all. Shane Maloney, from Madrid confirms: “On the retail side, established retailers will always have the advantage, but those who do not pay attention to the market trends and adjust their approach will be in danger of losing sales to the newcomers who are paying attention.” With the right fit between brands and retailers, the next ten years in longboarding are looking rather bright. Maui at Sector 9 concludes: “People no longer stick to just one board. If you stoke them with the first they will come back and get a second or third one. That is why it is so fun to work with excellent products and good marketing – you relate to the customers and get them to become regulars at your store.” in danger of losing sales to the newcomers who are paying attention.” With the right fit between brands and retailers, the next ten years in longboarding are looking rather bright. Maui at Sector 9 concludes: “People no longer stick to just one board. If you stoke them with the first they will come back and get a second or third one. That is why it is so fun to work with excellent products and good marketing – you relate to the customers and get them to become regulars at your store.”
HIGHLIGHTS +25% growth YTD in sales Premium RRP over ¤200 Saturation in US – next in Europe? Girls getting into longboarding Drop-thru shapes dominant Colour-coordination Major movement in gloves segment!
olympic skate
PROS AND CONS: SKATEBOARDING IN THE 2020 OLYMPICS? Will the four-wheeled plank of wood play out as a five-ringed sports event – and what’s in it for skateboard companies? Report by Boardsport SOURCE Skateboard Editor Dirk Vogel Believe it or not, but the question of including skateboarding in the Olympic Games is almost as old as skateboarding itself. In 1965, John Severson argued in The Quarterly Skateboarder magazine’s first issue: “We predict a real future for the sport – a future that could go as far as the Olympics. It’s a much more ‘measurable’ sport than surfing and therefore lends itself more to competition.” Defending skateboarding as a “real sport,” the editor concluded: “Competition should be big in skateboarding, but it’s going to take organization and support from the participants.” These two key components – organization and support from participants – are exactly why skateboarding is still not an Olympic event a full 50 years later. Over the years, organizational efforts have yielded no results, while sentiments among participants have traditionally ranged from fierce opposition to an indifference summed up by MOB Skateboards owner Christian Roth: “As long as I can remember, I haven’t watched any Olympics at all. I’m absolutely NOT interested and wouldn’t even notice if the whole festivus would vanish.” But recently, not everybody is that relaxed… The number of critical voices has grown since May 2015, when the World Skateboarding Federation (WSF) held a Global Skateboarding Summit in Istanbul, Turkey, to talk specifics of skateboarding’s inclusion with representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). On June 22, the IOC fired the next shot by announcing “roller sports” – including skateboarding – as a shortlisted event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Instantly, the Internet lit up with outrage: “The Olympics will ruin skateboarding!” commented user Mei Phuk as skateboarders worldwide turned into pitchforked villagers. On the Care2 website, an activist named “Clarky” launched a petition to keep skateboarding out of the Olympics, because “skateboarding is not a ‘sport.’” Adding fuel to the flames, the
WSF in July published rankings of skateboarding’s top athletes in street, vert, downhill, freestyle, slalom. This raised more heated questions, mostly: “Slalom? WTF is the WSF thinking!?” And also: “WTF is the WSF?”” THE PLAYERS: BEHIND THE ACRONYMS The WSF, founded by former basketball official and World Skateboarding Grand Prix organizer Tim McFerran, is one of three major players currently competing for recognition as skateboarding’s designated International Federation (IF). This is the major precondition: Every sport needs an IF to handle organizational ramifications such as rules, formats, judging, and qualifications as the official governing body in front of the IOC. But it’s a slippery slope, Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies points out: “In snowboarding, the association of snowboarders (ISF) was replaced at the Olympics with the FIS. That hasn’t really helped the sport.” Snowboarding’s example proved a warning to the skateboard industry. “The most important lesson is that we have been very patient not to enter under a sanctioning body that is incongruent with our vision, much like how snowboarding got involved through skiing. It has been 20 years since then and it took a long time for the snowboarding industry to change the format to what they originally envisioned,” said ‘Mr. Vans’, Steve Van Doren, adding: “It’s going to be very crucial to ensure that every component of the skateboarding competition comes from an authentic skateboarding lens and background. Without taking this approach, we risk our reputation with our fans and our legitimacy as a professional sport lifestyle.”
‘Mr. Vans’, Steve Van Doren: “It’s going to be very crucial to ensure that every component of the skateboarding competition comes from an authentic skateboarding lens and background. Without taking this approach, we risk our reputation with our fans and our legitimacy as a professional sport lifestyle.” 59
Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies: “Overall, the Olympics are overrated. Windsurfing is – or was – in the Olympics, and where is it today? Gone! Skateboarding, much like snowboarding and surfing, has grown because of the fun and the unique feeling, not its television presence.”
Next to the WSF, the major Olympics driver is the International Skateboarding Federation (ISF) headed by Gary Ream and backed by large parts of the industry. Thanks to a strategic partnership with Street League Skateboarding (SLS), the ISF proposes the SLS instant scoring system for Olympic skateboarding, as well as the SLS Super Crown World Championship as a global qualification system. The third contender is the Federation International de Roller Sports (FIRS), formerly the IOC’s official IF for roller hockey (sure makes Street League sound a lot more attractive). But nothing is decided yet, and as Kelly Bird, Global Brand Manager at Nike SB and board member of the International Association of Skateboard Companies (IASC), said: “What you saw in Turkey was part of a complicated and somewhat politically wrought process of determining exactly who will be the governing body for skateboarding once its inclusion is confirmed. I can tell you with certainty that it won’t be the group you saw in Turkey.” That said, let’s look at what the Olympics could bring to the table for the skateboard industry. THE ARGUMENT: PROS Negotiating from a position of strength. Desperate to attract the kind of young demographics reached by skateboarding – average TV viewer age at the 2012 Olympics was 49.4 years (Nielsen Data) – the IOC is willing to listen. “I totally believe the Olympics need skateboarding. I have been involved for the last decade with several members of the skate industry in educating the Olympics organization on our vision to integrate skateboarding into the games,” said Steve Van Doren. More acceptance, new parks. The Olympics could increase skateboarding’s overall acceptance in society as more than a trend or toy, said Veith Kilberth, who earned his five year degree in Sports Science before co-founding Fine Lines marketing agency: “Establishing skateboarding can prove useful for creating new skateboard infrastructure and supporting newcomers with skate workshops. Acceptance can make a decisive difference when it comes to mobilizing public funding for skateboard projects.” Heck, snowboarding already did it. “It has been a matter of ‘not if, but when’ pretty much since snowboarding became such a huge draw for the Winter games,” said Kelly Bird. As Antoine Soule at DC Shoes puts it: “The IOC has been lurking on skateboarding for years now and needs the refreshing ‘sport’ effect that snowboarding has brought to them on the winter editions.” Massive media exposure. “The event would bring maximum exposure on all fronts, from the athletes, to skateboarding performance and for the soft and hard goods that keep the industry alive,” said Steve Van Doren at Vans. And as Veith Kilberth at fine lines marketing said: “The increased exposure also brings a heightened marketing potential and interest from corporate brands that want to become engaged in skateboarding. This means more budgets and more money invested in the skateboard business.”
THE ARGUMENT: CONS More viewers is not the same as more participants. “Snowboarding won an enormous amount of viewers because of the Olympics, but nothing in terms of active snowboarders. That number has been declining for years,” said Jörg Ludewig at Urban Supplies, adding: “Overall, the Olympics are overrated. Windsurfing is – or was – in the Olympics, and where is it today? Gone! Skateboarding, much like snowboarding and surfing, has grown because of the fun and the unique feeling, not its television presence.” Branding is tricky. As Franz Josef Hoeller at Fresco distribution pointed out, brand visibility may prove a tough bargain “because of the strong branding regulations during the Olympics.” This is confirmed by Antoine at DC: “Regarding the brands, it’s all about how they are going to be visible on the events knowing that the IOC has drastic restrictions concerning branding size and placement. We can guess that hardware and footwear would not be altered and will remain visible.” Choice of proper formats. Mainstream television has its own rules when it comes to sports, and Christian Roth at MOB Skateboards has some concerns about formats: “If you want to attract a wider audience you have to narrow skateboarding down to the attractions, because most of the audience are just passive spectators who could never grasp the technicality of most of the skateboard tricks – so you need the Mega-Ramp and the Street-League-like contests.” Bigger brands profit more. “Brands in a way can benefit as the sport gets more mainstream, but it’s more an opportunity for big corporate brands than for small niche skateboarding brands,” says F.J. Hoeller. Along those lines, Jörg Ludewig said: “Bogner has been making the ski suits for the German [Olympics] team for years now, yet they’re struggling. I think the Olympics can make something that’s strong even stronger, but I doubt they can lead something weak to strength.” THE BOTTOM LINE The IOC will announce its final decision shortly before the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But regardless of the outcome, it’s best to keep our expectations in check, advises Kelly Bird: “I don’t really see much of a downside to the inclusion for skateboarding, but my guess is the up side will be marginal at best.” At the same time, core skate culture will also remain unaffected: “The Olympics won’t change the essential aspects of skateboarding at all. If the mainstream media pushes skateboarding with Street League and the Olympics in a progression- and sport-performance-oriented direction, parts of the core community will simultaneously drive into the opposite direction towards less measurable aspects like creativity and an anti-establishment attitude. That’s the law of nature in the skateboard world and it’s already happening at the moment,” said Veith Kilberth.
Veith Kilberth. Co-Founder of Fine Lines marketing agency: “Establishing skateboarding can prove useful for creating new skateboard infrastructure and supporting newcomers with skate workshops. Acceptance can make a decisive difference when it comes to mobilizing public funding for skateboard projects.” 60
photos: Billabong
trend report
SUMMER, SUNSHINE, SURFING VIBES! Everything seems just a tad easier in the summertime. Longer days offer more time to pay your dues at work and follow your passions. More opportunities to go outdoors bring more fun times with and without friends. And warmer temperatures mean less need to cover skin up and hence less hassle to think about what to wear... especially for the ladies. And what could reflect summer vibes better than clothes you’d wear by the beach? No matter where you are, surf apparel can instantly get you that holiday-feeling and catapult you into vacation mood. If only there weren’t myriads of choices to sift through. This trend report by Anna Langer might offer some help. Even though needing less clothes means less hassle to think about putting an outfit together, the various styles, silhouettes and trends can make summer dressing a mission too. From “dreamy 1970s nostalgia” (Volcom), to “laid back tomboy styling with a tropical twist” (Animal), travelling (Roxy) and road trips (Urban Beach), “Rebel Pack” vibes in black and white from Protest and Billabong’s Designer Closet collection, “with tinted sharp styles of printed black and white palm, denim and a hint of shiny gold”, there are almost endless choices to suit every heart’s content. BEACH STYLE With collections designed for being at the beach, it’s no surprise that a lot of inspiration is taken from there. Rip Curl even send their design team out to The Search destination Tulum in Mexico to gather inspiration, which they channelled into a collection reflecting “the wild jungle and the hippy life. We discovered a beach life really linked with nature and so the designs are made for going to the beach – or thinking about it,” says Valerie Wieser, Head of Design for Girls. Urban Beach also embark on an “exotic surf adventure down to the wild and tropical shores of Copacabana Beach.” Of course all kinds of tropical prints and colours fit perfectly with that theme and can be found in most Surf Apparel collections next year. “In tribute to the ever popular floral trend, which appears across every type of garment this season, Jungle injects a vintage Hawaiian feel, full of stunning greens and photographic prints of exotic plants, leaves 62
and flowers,” says Anjet Wesselink, Head of Marketing at Protest. Marie Lauga, Global Head of Design for Roxy adds that “floral and Hawaiian patterns have always been part of the Roxy DNA and will also be present this season.” Urban Beach work with “bold saturated colours and juicy graphics straight from a tropical jungle” and “incorporate orchids, the national flower of Brazil.” Brunotti also think that “bright and tropical prints are vital for a summery feel,” although Billabong feature a black and white palm leaf print in their Designer’s Closet Capsule, next to “floral prints slightly faded by the sun for a romantic look.” Volcom approach this classic with their native twist: “Traditional tropical prints are hacked and chopped into various parts and pieced back together again in the form of a geometric jigsaw,” explains Kristy Michaels, Head Women’s Designer. BOHO GYPSY VIBES Since surfing involves a lot of traveling, the bohemian gypsy vibe that has been popular for some seasons now has a nice natural tie to the whole topic as well, that continues to be featured in most lines. Billabong add a “jade floral print for a bohemian spirit” to their Mystic Mama theme, Rhythm draws inspiration from Persia and “ethnic tiled textures and patterns,” and Roxy add embellishments to their sporty styles that “feel new although they were inspired by caftans and 70s beach culture textile.” Protest invite their customers “to travel the ancient Silk Road with our Caravansary theme – inspired by the large gatherings of traveling traders to rest and exchange cultures as they made their way along the trade routes,” says Anjet and also Animal is
trend report
following the “Bohemian Dream: living free with a love for all things Bohemian and Gypset - monochromes with neon flashes used in bold festival inspired graphics and a nod to vintage on the styling,” explains Lucy Seaman, Women’s and Girl’s Wear Design Manager. Urban Beach goes for a “cool classic range of grown up bohemian pieces with vintage detailing,” says Designer Emma Watkiss.
fluid look,” says Valerie. Billabong also implement “light viscose and cotton for fluid effects,” as do Rhythm with a “variety of lightweight soft cottons and cotton blends in wovens and jersey,” says Girls Brand Manager Daniella Ciano. Animal have a “brushed lightweight fleece, slubs, cotton modals and cotton acrylic mix knits” in store.
SHIFTING SILHOUETTES To facilitate a comfortable beach lifestyle, silhouettes are “fluttery” (Nikita), “relaxed and drapey, but breezy but also feminine” (Brunotti)
COLOUR ME BRIGHT While Baja add a “wider variety” of colours to their line, most other brands agree on a sunkist-inspired palette with everything from
photos: Brunotti
RETRO INSPO Inspiration from the 70s already plays into the boho theme and is expanded on its own in 2016. “Our collection brings you back to a time where the swagger was effortless and the style proved to be timeless,” promises Volcom’s Kristy, “a retro fresh vibe mixed with relaxed styling is perfect for the sand or the street.” Valerie from Rip Curl even names the “long skirt” worn by “the gypsy girl” as a musthave of the season, referencing “all the revival of 70s gypsy life on the catwalks.” Billabong revisit “80s surf culture” with “all-over tropical vintage, hibiscus and white and black geo prints” and comfortable pieces, that are “suited to coastal lifestyle and very easy to wear.” Animal also “nod to vintage with crochet long line knits and fringing” in their Sunday Festival theme. For Cali-based Baja, whose “original inspiration” for their pullovers came “from 70’s Baja California”, the vintage vibe is rather natural – and timeless. “In the evening after surf or in the city, you need a comfortable and fresh looking pullover - and that is where the Baja hoodie is perfect” states founder Janne Karjula.
“In tribute to the ever popular floral trend, which appears across every type of garment this season, Jungle injects a vintage Hawaiian feel, full of stunning greens and photographic prints of exotic plants, leaves and flowers.” Anjet Wesselink, Head of Marketing at Protest and “elaborate” (Roxy). Dresses play an important role for all brands and themes, as usual, and range from mini (Volcom), through asymmetric (Billabong) and “simple relaxed shift style dresses” to the already mentioned maxi versions.
“bright coral, pastel orange and fresh red” (Rip Curl), “sunrise shades of peachy sun kiss, blossom and lilac” (Rhythm), “bright and warm hibiscus, powerful jade, some retro colours like gold dust rustic rose” (Billabong) to “soft rose, grey” and “pops of berry and pink” (Nikita).
Other looks include “tanks that can work as a top or a coverup” (Nikita), “halter necklines and flared bottoms” (Volcom), “little boardwalk shorts” (Rip Curl), rompers in all variations as well as “loose smock style top shapes” and “jackets with added detailing” (Rhythm). Maria from Roxy adds: “We saw an evolution in the market with the use of sport codes in very feminine products. We do not hesitate to mix a very elaborated top in light fabric with a casual beach pant and a nice bag or a really cute romper with a loose cardigan and a straw hat.”
Portraying the other spectrum of surf culture that is connected to all things water, aqua shades have their place as well, even combined. “Faded shades of burnt sienna, soy and bleached aqua are used to frame the vibrant hues of fire red, tidal blue, and orange glow” states Volcom’s Kristy and Maria agrees that at Roxy they “notice the importance of deep sea blue and shades of washed mint green, counterbalanced by splashes of orange and tomato.” Rhythm also sport “indigo blues”, Protest implement “blues with fresh accents” and Brunotti feature blues in a “tie and dye all overprint, a bright tropical multi colour allover” and “fresh surfy colour group with laguna mint green and fluro rosa.”
TEXTURED FABRICS All the boho, retro and gypsy inspiration is complimented with “romantic crochet and lace detailing” (Volcom), jacquard, chambray and gauze fabrics that add details and texture. Roxy have even dedicated a part of their collection to “Market textures” that are “all about soft loomed woven, jacquard prints and blanket stripes” and “elevated with artisanal textures,” Maria elaborates.
HIGHLIGHTS Relaxed & drapey feminine silhouettes Sunkist & water shades
Apart from that, “Spring/Summerweight fabrics” are most sought after for the warmer part of the year, “from cotton/poly blends to our supersoft rayon from bamboo” explains Vicki Vasil from Nikita. Rip Curl work with viscose to “bring more fluidity to tees and dresses” and have added a “new viscose fleece that is a special development from our supplier in Portugal and brings a cool, soft touch and feminine
Boho Gypsy Styling Floral Prints
63
photos: T.C.S.S / Billabong
trend report
THE AGE OF SURF COUTURE? As endemic surf brands are kicking their product launch preparations for Spring/Summer 2016 into high gear, the first previews reveal an eclectic offering that is increasingly less low brow, and more high fashion and cosmopolitan. Are we entering the age of Surf Couture? Trend Report by Dirk Vogel. Any way you slice it, men’s fashion is having its moment in the sun. Men are officially spending more on apparel than women these days, and according to FashionUnited projections, menswear will contribute close to $40 billion in annual sales to the global apparel market by 2019. And for reasons much too broad to discuss here, men all across the board have developed a taste for more mature, refined apparel. Streetwear has been first to “grow up,” now reaching a point where the hip-hop scene is abandoning urban wear in favour of luxe items such as $1,500 distressed moto-jeans by top-shelf brands including Balmain. Accordingly, the streetwear scene is currently experiencing what fashion blog Business of Fashion calls the “Rise of Rap Couture.” Also riding the high fashion wave, men’s surf apparel has come a long way over the past seasons in terms of silhouettes, materials, and upscale stylistics. Setting a new high water mark – including elevated price points – Kelly Slater’s surf clothing line Outerknown was recently launched under the Kering Group umbrella: Refined and cosmopolitan, Outerknown’s inaugural collection features ethically sourced chinos ($185), soft knit sweaters ($385), geometrically patterned hoodies ($425), and silhouette-hugging plaid pea coats ($545). Already, men’s magazines such as GQ are singing the new collection praises for “un-dorking” surf wear and nailing a look that “works damn near everywhere.”
THEMES Although it’s too early to proclaim a new era of “surf couture” – and $400hoodies are still a long stretch from $1,500 bleached jeans with tons of holes in them – the GQ article hits at least one nail on the head: Surf apparel is expected to work “damn near everywhere,” these days, and not just the beach. Which brings us to the major trend of the season: Surfing clothes, as Urban Beach puts it, “are now expected to adapt to their use occasion, be that surfing, chilling on the beach or heading to the bar later on in the evening.” From a collections standpoint, this day-and-night theme translates into versatile pieces that go from the beach, to the nightlife, and back. In order to keep you covered 24-7, The Critical Slide Society created the Jumble Jacket and Cotton Gauze short sleeve that “can be dressed up and worn out at night and can just as easily be thrown on for an afternoon at the beach.” As the perfect round-the-clock companion, Finland’s Baja clothing suggests their signature Baja Hoodie: “It is a product for many different situations because of its big hood, kangaroo pocket, and fresh colours. It is the perfect jacket for festivals, for spring/summer nights, the beach, and even for city life!”
“The Hyperdry T-shirt fabric from bionic yarn is made of cotton, recycled ocean plastic and polyester. It’s a Hyperdry fabric so it’s ‘wicking’ quick dry fabric. Perfect for everyday use, but also for surfing or sports.” Jan Lindeboom O’Neill Category Manager for Men’s Surf, Apparel and Footwear. 65
trend report
photo: T.C.C.S
Dantas, SUPERbrand’s Apparel M&D Director: “The main theme for the collection is called Sea Culture, which captures the modern beach vibe of Southern California, with a sense of fun beach cruising and living in the modern days.” Looking back in time, Baja Clothing’s original inspiration for the pullovers come from 70’s Baja California. For example in the evening after surf or in the city, there is a need for some comfortable and fresh looking pullover, and that is where Baja hoodie is perfect. Travel once again invites apparel designers to weave dreams of faraway places into their garments, with Quiksilver drawing inspiration from Brazilian environs from the beaches to the favelas. Reef apparently lost their heart to one of the world’s pristine beach spots: “Bali was our inspirational region of the season and we have key prints that speak to the colour, feel and mood of Bali. Design was influenced by the colour of the sea while in Bali, the natural colours of the landscape as well as the brighter colours inherent in the culture.” At Iron & Resin, it’s all about blazing your own trail, says Chris Smith: “The catalyst for this seasons collection was the people who we consider to be ‘Path Makers.’”
Speaking of city life, Quiksilver segments its Stay High collection into times of day with AM and PM divisions: “Through AM we are taking on beachwear with lighter, knocked-back colours, fun washes, a little bit more playful, colourful graphics and a heavy focus on boardshorts. The PM side to the creative direction allows us to tap into streetwear and start to bring in some of those trends that we weren’t capitalizing on before.” INFLUENCES In terms of influences, surf apparel brands are riffing on a variety of stylistics. In the new Surf Plus line, Billabong is “borrowing cuts from the military and marine worlds, the leather, washes and textile details have been crafted with a focus on durability and light, brokenin comfort.” Music will forever be an influence in surf apparel, and The Critical Slide Society (TCSS) takes the subversive route: “A Serge Gainsbourg song ‘Sea, Sex & Sun’ is really the catalyst of the collection this season. It’s pretty much what TCSS is about in the summer months. The line is actually called ‘Hotel Particular’.” Sounds hot! And bringing the thematic influence full-circle, brands find plenty of source material in California beach life – past and present. Juliana
COLOURS Colourways trending in 2016 cover three different territories, which Brunotti’s Head of Design, Joffrey Delfgaauw, divides into three collections: “Blu Italiani is about our Italian roots combined with the blue colours of the sea, which we love so much. La Giungle Surf is the jungle next to the beaches with bright and tropical prints for a summery feel. And Spiaggia Della Sardegna is about beach classics in surf and sun-faded colours.” These colour trends are echoed by other brands, for instance sun-faded primary colours and neons at Billabong, or the oceanic colour palette all over Protest’s new line: “Beautiful deep lagoon blues, shells and tropical birds – the paradise of a desert island – the Marooned collection brings a shipwrecked element to the collection with inspiring graphics and prints.” Also never going out of style, the entire military heritage palette of sand, olive, black, and navy continues to march ahead in SS16 collections, preferably in washed-out colours for that lived-in, timetested look. True to surfing’s penchant for spicing things up, a little colour pop still goes a long way. Adam at DaKine enlightens us: “Colours for SS16 is a mix of wearable neutrals with pops of athletic brights like Sulphur and Neon Blue.” For the sleeper hit among colours for next season, Juliana at SUPERbrand points out: “I have been seeing a lot of oranges hues being used for SS16, from warm to cold tones.” Watch out for orange! On the more subtle side, surf brands are taking a hint from the ‘street goth’ movement with black prints on all-white tees. Nicolas Perceval at Billabong confirms: “The shirt ‘Rapture SS’ from the Garage line is inspired by free surfing freak punk Creed McTaggart, with geometric shapes dominating the black and white silhouette that come with psychedelic delusions.“
“Inspired by the classic skate and café racer motorcycle cultures. This predominantly black and white range is symbolic and saturated with attitude from the city streets of downtown LA,”Anjet Wesselink at Protest.
66
trend report
“A Serge Gainsbourg song ‘Sea, Sex & Sun’ is really the catalyst of the collection this season. It’s pretty much what TCSS is about in the summer months. The line is actually called ‘Hotel Particular’.” The Critical Slide Society.
MATERIALS At the end of the day, nothing elevates a garment and justifies price points like materials. The three main stories for SS16 are technical materials for active performance, sustainable fabrics, and upscale materials – or material blends – for an elevated look and feel. Technical materials are a home game for innovators such as O’Neill. Jan Lindeboom O’Neill Category Manager for Men’s Surf, Apparel and Footwear, is stoked on, “Hyperdry technology in collaboration with LIQUIPEL, a super-fast quick drying fabric with nanotechnology. The Hyperdry T-shirt fabric from bionic yarn is made of cotton, recycled ocean plastic and polyester. It’s a Hyperdry fabric so it’s ‘wicking’ quick dry fabric. Perfect for everyday use, but also for surfing or sports.” Speaking of “recycled ocean plastic,” sustainable and re-used fabrics are finding their way into many collections. Eco-friendly material stories used to be the cutting edge, but have now become status quo across surf collections. Finland-based Baja Clothing even goes as far as saying that they “will use only fabrics which are eco-friendly.” The third major trend in materials is best summed up as ‘fabrication’, meaning the use of fabrics and textures for a finish that lets customers ‘feel the difference’. Fabrication is a key trend at surf renegades The Critical Slide Society: “We use a variety of cotton and blends in different weights and fabrications to ensure that lived in hand feel is paramount across the whole collection. Washing also plays an important role in fabrication, how well does it wash and what effects can we draw from it.” CUTS AND SILHOUETTES Now that surf clothing seamlessly traverses from the beach to the bar to the bougy restaurant, fits and silhouettes have seen formfitting upgrades across many lines. (This, by the way, is great news for retailers, as trying on garments will become key for customers looking to nail that perfect fit. Just make sure they buy where they try!) Supporting the around-the-clock style factor, Iron & Resin have just the thing in the pants segment: “Our Engineer chino pant or shorts are the ‘do everything’ leg covers! Ideal around a campfire or dressy enough for a night out with the lady friend. The 8.5 oz brushed canvas is so velvety smooth and only get better with wear.” Even the humble t-shirt is getting a makeover, embracing new fits while paying attention to colour trends. At Protest, head of marketing Anjet Wesselink explains the current push: “We see a big variety in t-shirts, therefore we redesigned our tees – we’ve upped our game and extended the range with neckline variations, washes and yarns. With colourful all over prints – even on pockets – preppy stripes, the burnt-out look or the inside out effect. There are possibilities for everyone.” On the same note, Urban Beach is banking on the Pizarro Tee: “This is looking to be our most popular men’s tee. It’s 100% cotton Melange heavy Slub fabric gives a distressed vintage effect with a high quality logo print finish and is available in calm Palm Island colours or the deep and exotic Copacabana Beach tones.” At the end of the day, a little stretch action can make all the difference on an action-packed day. The new blend of stretchy, active fabrics with contemporary fits is exemplified in Quiksilver’s Street Trunks line: “For example the Yoke Cracked trunk. Uni-colour and straight-
fitting, this trunk features an all over print on the waistband and brings everything you need in a walkshort: Multi-functional pockets in the relaxed tailoring, stretch cotton twill and a relaxed, surf-inspired streetwear style.” PRINTS AND PATTERNS Hawaiian prints and florals continue to bloom, injected with subtle details. For Brunotti, these patterns help express the brand’s Italian roots, as Joffrey explains: “Prints and patterns are very important. One of the main prints is a tropical print with leafs of olive trees, and basil. Complete with olives, it’s an Italian tropical print!” Over at Protest, the Jungle print pattern,“injects a vintage Hawaiian feel, full of stunning greens and photographic prints of exotic plants, leaves and flowers.” Keeping in mind what we already said about the black-and-white colour trend, Protest’s Rebel Pack collection graphics are “inspired by the classic skate and café racer motorcycle cultures. This predominantly black and white range is symbolic and saturated with attitude from the city streets of downtown LA,” Anjet Wesselink tells us. Geometric prints – most of all triangles – are gaining momentum in many collections, including Billabong’s Garage line that “welds geometry with a stripped-back stealth.” But despite all the subtle colourways and mature designs, the classic ‘loud’ message t-shirt still rides strong in SS16 surf apparel collections. Standouts include TCSS’s epic Life Fast Die Shredding slogan T-shirt, and Billabong’s artist collab with Ornamental Conifer, aka artist Nicolai Sclater, featuring slogans such as ‘Shape Up or Ship Out!’ for an extra dose of surf attitude. So there you have it – attitude and day-and-night surf flavour are still more important than playing the game of upscale fashion design. What’s even more reassuring, endemic surf brands pride themselves in offering genuine value for the money – so no $1,500 jeans any time soon. Chris at Iron & Resin concludes: “The fabrics we use, whether it’s the canvas in the Union Work Pant, denim in the Scout Jacket, to quality used for the wovens and chambrays, the twills in the bottoms – and the list goes on – are the best quality fabrics any of our competitors at similar price points can compare.” On that note, surfing is still far away from Rap Couture, where things are nice because they are expensive – not the other way around.
HIGHLIGHTS Tailored for day-and-night Travel, the sea & ‘70s Cali beach culture Materials – ‘feel the difference’ Sun-faded and washed out Mature, form-fitting silhouettes using stretch Geometric prints in black-and-white
67
photo: Burton / Eastpak
trend report
COMMUTER BACKPACKS & TRAVEL LUGGAGE SS16 TREND REPORT No one gets anywhere near enough time surfing warm water kegs in Indonesia or navigating Alaskan snow capped spines. And when we do manage to go barrel or powder sniffing, just getting there is a major aspect to contend with. But alas, the majority of us end up spending the greatest part of our time at work, or getting to work. Either way, travel is something that goes hand in hand with boardsports and always has done. For SS16, SOURCE dips its toe into a new trend report topic, as we take a look at a category that brands are placing a lot of emphasis on as they recognize the importance of the modern traveller among their customers. By Harry Mitchell Thompson. OVERVIEW As the world becomes more and more connected, and the desire to travel and seek adventure greater than ever, boardsports brands are making a big push in the luggage category - after all, when travelling the world, we want to do it with luggage from brands endemic to surf/ skate/snow. Marc-Alexandre Ducoté, Global Product Manager for Accessories at Quiksilver recognizes that the brand’s customers are “surfers, skaters and snowboarders are always on the move, commuting comes to them naturally. It’s their way of life. That’s why we want to offer them the best products to pursue this unique lifestyle. High quality backpacks and travel luggage are definitely part of their daily needs and thus a category we strive to excel in.” For Billabong, this category allows the brand to “demonstrate the technical know-how of Billabong, which is already known for its wetsuits,” confirms Alexandre Berthonneau – Outerwear and Accessories Product Manager. Whereas, for Dakine it’s their bread and butter: “Dakine has become a leader in technical street packs over the years, this is our identity and where we make the difference with other brands.” Nixon sees the category as a continuation from their watch business, as they “tell the Nixon story and show the Nixon DNA through our
bag designs,” says Product Manager for Nixon Accessories, Ryan Martinez. For Burton, the category is a “very relevant and real part of snowboarding – the mission to the hill. Snowboarding is a lifestyle that naturally encompasses travel.” LINE SEGMENTATION For SS16 in technical commuter packs and luggage, we can see distinct lines separating the category. Swedish bag experts Douchebags simply split their line between backpacks and rollers and Nixon also keep it simple with “extended long trips, week trips, and weekend getaway trips” dividing their line. Dakine split their collection into carry-on and big volume styles, and Quiksilver offer “performance and lifestyle oriented products. We also apply the good/better/best pyramid to cater for the needs of a large array of customers.” Poler Stuff see things a little differently: “We’re not trying to segment our bags, more bridge the gap with multi-functional bags that cross over from the outdoors, into the modern day traveller packs.” Heimplanet are taking take this a step further; instead of having bags for specific pursuits (mountaineering, camping, travelling, commuting), they’ve gone with a line that is more flexible - whereby the user can leave on a certain trip, their plans could change and thanks to their adaptability/add on pouches, they will be ready for whatever is thrown at them.
“Surfers, skaters and snowboarders are always on the move, commuting comes to them naturally. It’s their way of life. That’s why we want to offer them the best products to pursue this unique lifestyle. High quality backpacks and travel luggage are definitely part of their daily needs and thus a category we strive to excel in.” Marc-Alexandre Ducoté, Global Product Manager for Accessories at Quiksilver
69
trend report
“We are finding an increase in non-action sports channels as well as continued growth in our core, action sports channels.” Product Manager for Nixon Accessories, Ryan Martinez
COMMUTER RUCKSACK DETAILS Padded laptop sleeves are standard across the majority of lines, as commuters require their portable office to stay safe on the move. Brands offer multiple pocketing options, with Nixon even going as far as constructing the main frame of their Shadow bag from neoprene to “allow the bag to expand and compress, allowing the consumer to maximize the cubic capacity without adding additional pressure to the main body coil zippers. This dampening feature prevents zippers from blowing out extending the bag’s lifespan.” Burton have combined the urban traveller and snowboarder’s needs with “board carry straps for our snow packs and computer sleeves for some of our travel and school bags. U lock pockets for our new commuter bags, tarp lined pockets for superior water resistance and weather proofed fabrics.” Poler Stuff have ease of entry in mind: “Access your stuff from the top or via the widemouth zip on the front of the bag so you don’t end up having to pull everything out of the bag to get to your prizes at the bottom.” Ergonomic shoulder straps are used by most brands and Quiksilver employ “sternum straps that help relieve weight from your shoulders, fleece lined valuable pockets, and an internal organiser for all your small gear.” Billabong won an ISPO Award for their Apex Boa pack from their Adventure Division (A/DIV.). The company has adapted BOA technology for strap tighteners and the bag has a wetsuit drainage system - pack your wetsuit in the detachable wetty pocket, and open the plug to drain all excess water. Nixon use “foams and materials to provide the ultimate comfort and support needed for long travel.” All brands have plenty of added features, and Dakine roll out a whole host of them: “padded laptop sleeve (TSA compliant for some of them), iPad sleeve (mini and classic), accessory pocket (cell phone, pens, business cards), water bottle pockets, fleece lined sunglass pocket, etc. On high end product (Network II) you can also find a really innovative breathable back panel.” Electric offer a compression molded goggle case, heavy-duty skate straps and roll-top for waterproofing. Douchebags pride themselves in lightweight products providing maximum protection. “We work with the very best backpack factories, and together with high quality they keep the Scandinavian design philosophy that we believe in so strongly,” explains Truls Brataas, Founder and CEO. LUGGAGE EXPLAINED As far as luggage goes no one is looking to reinvent the wheel, instead brands are tinkering with their previous successes and refining their offerings with subtle added details. Billabong give their luggage users ease of manoeuvrability with added extras for those planning more than just a long weekend: “Compression straps, multiple handles so the bag can be grabbed from any side, inner compartments, separate laundry bag, external pockets and ID pocket.” Quiksilver offer: “a lightweight lifestyle range, available in three different volumes and includes premium features such as a lightweight molded base and skate wheels.” Behemoths in the luggage game, Dakine guarantee durability as well as functionality. The brand introduced the ‘split design’ a number of years ago, where the bag opens in two parts, allowing easy access to each compartment. This has now become standard for many brands, 70
while Dakine continue to offer it along with high quality wheels and a telescopic handle. Nixon also ensures durability while offering “aluminium retractable handles for lighter weight mobility and ABEC 5 bearings in all our wheels for smooth and easy transport.” Douchebags and Eastpak both offer a new generation of shell design to ensure their customer’s luggage is safe from damage. Burton are showing belief in their luggage in the best way possible – a lifetime guarantee. Eastpak are really stepping up their luggage offering for 2016: “We now bring two and four wheels, single and double deck, duffle style or trolley and with matching totes, packs and accessories.” VISUALS While those who have grown up with boardsports like to remain loyal to their roots, there are also those who simply like the aesthetics and lifestyle it offers, meaning some of our key brands are also seeing success in other markets, as Ryan at Nixon describes: “We are finding an increase in non-action sports channels as well as continued growth in our core, action sports channels.” The brand employs a “subdued black body colour with a touch of sport pop, allowing the collection to have an unexpected point of view that is true to Nixon.” Billabong are opting for subtle and tonal colourways in their techy/ functional designs above vintage/heritage styling, with Burton offering “many different fabrications, unexpected designs and fresh colourways to tell stories of an adaptable, active lifestyle.” Eastpak are taking inspiration from their heritage and play with a lot of original colours and prints. Quiksilver’s new creative direction sees them look to Brazil for their SS16 lines, nodding to the country’s street art and graffiti conveying the stark contrast between night and day, beaches and the favelas and employing their own unique art direction for the first time. DEMOGRAPHICS Quiksilver’s core target groups is 18-25s, with Dakine similarly targeting the 15-25s, although also stating that they have products for 6-66 year olds as well. Nixon look at the 18-50 market, from college to working professionals and Poler Stuff focus on 18-35+, mainly being made up of “young adventurous and ambitious men and women.” Burton has noticed over the years that their “demographic has stayed the same but maybe general taste has evolved and matured slightly.” Douchebags echo this, as they hone in on “the modern traveller.” Heimplanet believe age is just a number, as they “rather focus on the lifestyle and mind set of our target group. In our experience demographics like age become less and less relevant to us.” Finally, Eastpak believe you’re as old as you feel: “ We aim at the young urban professional or graduate student. But we’re happy to extend that target to anyone with a young mind set!”
HIGHLIGHTS Padded Laptop cases Skate wheels & telescopic handles ‘Modern traveller’ 18-25 target group
photo: Red Paddle
trend report
SUP FOCUS RED PADDLE CO.’S CO-FOUNDER JOHN HIBBARD When thinking of the top stakeholders in the booming SUP industry, a few companies spring to mind. With an eye on the main innovations over the past year, it quickly becomes evident that the individual best fitted to feature in this first industry interview, is John Hibbard. He’s the relentless visionary who, aside from being Red Paddle Co.’s co-founder, is also a talented product developer. He has helped the industry progress through a series of smart product innovations. The first is the most sought after SUP pump, the dual chamber Titan Pump. An additional innovation which Hibbard spearheaded is the patented Rocker Stiffening System. Two fiberglass battens slide into a special PVC pocket that considerably increases the longitudinal stiffness of the board. Last year, this invention earned Red Paddle Co. the ‘Coolest Gear of the Show’ award at Paddle Expo in Nuremberg. Hibbard shared with SOURCE how they are supporting the specialized market, some insight into where SUP is heading and how important it is to have state of the art resources available for the growing number of SUP centres opening on all kinds of bodies of water. Interview by Robert Etienne. Please briefly introduce yourself and your background in boardsports. My involvement with boardsports goes right back to my early childhood when I would ride my father’s homemade wooden surfboards during the summer holidays. By my early teens, I had switched to riding ‘real’ surfboards and had taken up windsurfing. Through my late teens I gained the highest level of windsurfing instructor qualification and spent the ‘no wind days’ running a windsurfing school and working in the local windsurf/board store. By my early twenties, I had become a full time professional windsurfer competing on the PWA world tour and the domestic tour. I was UK wavesailing champion in 2007, which seemed like a good time to step aside. I then turned my attention to creating Red Paddle Co. in 2008 and never looked back since! How does your brand differentiate itself on the SUP market? We’ve only ever sold inflatable boards. That makes us fairly unique in being one of very few brands that is dedicated to this technology. 72
There are ‘brands’ that are only inflatable, but these are OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) brands placing a logo on someone else’s product and ordering stock shapes and constructions. We are focused on producing an inflatable board that gives the rider a genuine experience. We’ve done this by focusing on all aspects of the design and build. We are not distracted by other technologies or needing to produce products for other sports. That’s one reason. The other is that we come at SUP from a different approach. We have always seen it as a mass-market sport and our product range and marketing have always been directed towards producing the right product for this customer as well as talking to them in a way that excites them about the sport. Our feeling was, and still is, that many companies come to the whole SUP thing from an elite performance level, something that the average customer can’t relate to.
trend report
We are focused on producing an inflatable board that gives the rider a genuine experience. We’ve done this by focusing on all aspects of the design and build. We are not distracted by other technologies or needing to produce products for other sports.
What can SUP learn from other boardsports? Keeping the sport for the everyman is our interest and is the one thing that SUP can learn from many sports – there often seems to be a desire to drive product development towards the high end of a sport and therefore neglect the rider who is just in it for some fun experiences. We would like to keep talking to the paddler that enjoys the sport for all the positive experiences it gives him, rather than the minority who are focused on the extreme end of the sport. What does the SUP Industry need to do to help grow the market? Keep educating people in all areas about SUP, i.e. you don’t need to live in paradise to SUP. Encouraging people to access their local waterways and show them that you can SUP anywhere. SUP is the bicycle of the water. Most people live closer to good paddling areas than they realize. Too much idyllic location imagery and extreme action, doesn’t always give people the right message, and therefore the right understanding of where they can paddle. What is your perception of the specialized shop? These guys are good and for the most part they understand what their local market needs. They are normally passionate about paddling and will often be the best place to go and get advice. The only risk I see with these guys, is if they set up too early, before SUP really got going. We’ve seen a few come and go as there was not the level of sales they had hoped for in the early years, but those that were able to hold it together are now able to tap into a larger potential customer base. For sure though, just being SUP specialized means you can’t afford to just coast along, you need to constantly connect with new customers and keep running things like paddle nights to keep new customers coming through the door. Are online stores a threat to the survival of specialized shops? Unless the online store is just selling on price, and looking to sell the cheapest product, I feel they need to be experts in SUP to survive. I think you will find a lot of online stores are spending a lot of time talking to a potential customer – either on the phone or by email – giving them advice on what to buy. Online retail is here and it has its challenges just as bricks and mortar stores do. While they may not be able to take people paddling, they will be judged on their knowledge and expertise and this is what sees them succeed or fail. If buying a SUP board were a simple decision then for sure online retailers would have the edge, but because it does require some level of research by the consumer, this does level the playing field somewhat. Brick and mortar stores often have very good online presence. The advice people find online, on their website, is what makes them go and visit the store for more advice or to experience the sport.
Everyone needs a website and everyone needs to sell the benefits of shopping with them. Specialist and brick and mortar stores have a lot to offer in terms of hands on service and if this is promoted by them in the right way there is a lot of value there. What do you do to support brick and mortar retailers? We encourage all our distributors to offer demo services for physical retailers to help them offer paddle nights and events. We are also working on a training package for our global physical retailers, that will assist them in learning more about Red and helping them get trained and therefore be able to sell our products more easily. We have far more physical shops than online only stores that sell our products. Our focus is making sure the physical shops have all the knowledge they need to sell effectively. We are going to be piling a ton of resources into this training package. Which decision have you made that has had the most impact on your brand? We’ve always wanted to handle as much of the design and manufacturing as we can. We never set out to be an OEM brand just producing standard, generic products. So, from day one, we wanted to develop, pumps, bags, etc. to deliver a product we are happy to use ourselves. Recently we have taken this one step further by developing a dedicated factory to just make our boards. As the demand for product grows, you need focus from everyone and that includes the team you have building the boards. In most manufacturing establishments the workforce will be making boards one day and then something different the next day, which means keeping consistency in finishing, quality and lead times become a massive challenge. For 2016 we have taken the big step of creating a specialist production line. This means it is running almost constantly and the workforce are only making our boards. This gives us more control over all the variables and allows us to keep a closed door on some of our innovation projects. Where do you see SUP going in the next five years? The future is really exciting. It still doesn’t feel like we have really started tapping the potential. I see SUP moving more and more into the mainstream as a means for people to get out in the open. Just like someone would take their bicycle for a ride around the countryside on the weekend, they will go for a paddle on their SUP. They probably won’t have any idea you could be a world champion in SUP! Talking of which, I have to leave now to meet up with a friend to paddle across the bay to the local bar for a beer – he certainly has no concept of using his board to enter a race, except if there is a beer at the end!
I see SUP moving more and more into the mainstream as a means for people to get out in the open. Just like someone would take their bicycle for a ride around the countryside on the weekend, they will go for a paddle on their SUP. 73
photo: O’neill
trend report
WETSUITS SS16 TREND REPORT European winters are long and we’re always happy to be able to get back into our 3/2 or 2/2 wetsuit, depending on where you surf. As always, wetsuit manufacturers have plenty of product innovation stories to tell for next summer, and Francois Applagnat has delved deep to help you work out what’s going to work on your order forms for SS16. WHAT’S NEW FOR SS16 Thanks to a rich history of wetsuit design, customers have become accustomed to expecting the world from their wetsuit. The market craves innovation and each wetsuit brand closely monitors upcoming trends in surfing and then conducts the required research and development in close collaboration with their suppliers. More and more brands are considering neoprene products as an extension of their ranges, especially in bikinis, such as the Alana Blanchard range from Rip Curl. Now that digital technology allows for printing on all types of materials, there are more opportunities for making crossovers between clothing design and neoprene design. “The wetsuit market in the Spring/Summer season is so much bigger than in the Fall/Winter season so you have to have products that appeal to a greater range of requirements and tastes,” Joe Turnbull from O’Neill Wetsuits confirms. Zipless wetsuits are a dominant feature for Ion Wetsuits and the brand will also introduce products that are more fashion orientated such as their Muse range that goes from “sporty to sexy”, as Carlo Rauen, the brand’s product developer tells us. Wetsuits without zips are trending hard but we’ll still be seeing back-zips for entry-level products. 3/2 and 2/2mm are the most common thicknesses for SS16 but Donovan Marais, Chief Executive at Derevko Wetsuits, is breaking the mould
with their versatile new 2.5mm steamer, although he admits: “Our biggest market is still with Fall/Winter wetsuits, and accounts for 80% of our business.” Brunotti’s Marketing Director Franck Uyt den Bogaard: “This year Brunotti launched a new and complete range of hardware and softgoods under the Brunotti RDP collection.” Franck explains that the RDP (Rider Developed Product) range is expanding, and while last year there were only two products available, now you can choose from 10 different products. At Tiki International trends are less important than function and there is more demand for customers to have the same products as the pro riders. Onda Wetsuits are also working closely with their riders to improve their next range of products. Benoit Brecq from Madness is working specifically with surf schools and offers Evolution wetsuits with a very good fit for an entry-level product. MATERIALS AND INNOVATION Innovation is a concept interpreted differently by each brand. While some are working more on fashion trends, product designers are predominantly developing new materials with the help of (mostly Asian) suppliers. So there are different solutions to the challenges of innovation. 75
trend report
Joe from O’Neill Wetsuits explains the properties of Technobutter2, their super light neoprene that absorbs minimal water. While their first version of Technobutter was a commercial hit, the second version has allowed for further improvements to technical properties. Rip Curl is currently manufacturing E4, “the most stretchy, lightweight material on the market,” as Rip Curl Wetsuits Product Manager Borja Torres tells us. At Brunotti, weight reduction is their primary objective. Carlo from Ion Wetsuits is introducing a new seam next year called Maki to improve stretch. Whereas for Patricia Siepel, Product Designer at Jobe, “We follow many fashion trends. Fashion gets more important
lining already used in the Fall/Winter range, which dries quickly to allow surfers to have several sessions per day. For James at Circle One, the new materials developed by the brand are the premium SCR and the Xtend, a quick drying top-of-the-range lining. At Quiksilver, we find thermal DryFlight lining between FN Lite neoprene, Red Seal technology and flush lock seals that allow you to drain the suit through the wrists. An interesting development worth a mention at Gul is the Flexor with its H10 sole for optimal grip and flex. And finally Onda’s super light material is the RS with a 3/2 weighing in at just 1kg. MULTIPLE SESSIONS When the ocean’s temperature heats up during spring and especially summer, it’s great to be able to spend more time in the water and have several sessions. The days are longer so there’s every opportunity to get back in the water several times in one day. As mentioned previously, wetsuit manufacturers have to factor this into their recipes when cooking up a new product. The designer also has to strike the right balance between a flexible and durable material. The seams are less important than they are for Fall/Winter when the water is colder but products must be stretchy yet sturdy. Carlo from Ion Wetsuits recommends their Plush lining for multiple sessions and fast drying. For Patricia at Jobe and Phil from Tiki International, it’s important to dry very quickly and they have improved these properties further for next year. In Rip Curl’s range, you can choose between the Freeflex and the E4 according to their flexibility/ durability ratio. Brunotti simply opt to absorb less water. Along the same lines, the Technobutter2 jersey from O’Neill absorbs 30% less water than classic jerseys, allowing them to dry quicker, which is the key for a day of many sessions. The less tired we get the more we can surf – the perfect fit is becoming very important for brands like O’Neill, Rip Curl and Madness. It’s also important to avoid creating irritation and the inside lining is the key material. “Particular attention is paid to the ‘ease of movement’ in the strategic paddle-zones”, says James at Circle One. “Intelligent seam placement enables the neoprene to do its job of stretching where needed most (underarm and shoulder).”
photo: Brunotti
STRETCH VS DURABILITY When you are using lighter neoprene there is a balance to be struck when looking to achieve more stretch because it means the material wears quicker. Customers are always on the hunt for a bargain and with more competition between brands than ever before, they are forced to offer better prices. For Ion Wetsuits, they use special Ninja_knees and the Ninja_spine for an extra stretch sequence around the knees and on the back. For Patricia at Jobe: “On the inside of the seams we use critical point savers on each point where there’s a lot of tension.” for us.” As we’ve seen with Patagonia’s Yulex, the issue of ecology has become a very important point. Phil Bridges from Tiki International is “proud to introduce PAH free, limestone neoprene with aqua based glue lamination. It’s a big step towards an ecologically responsible, realistically affordable neoprene”. He adds that he is already selling a zip free, quick drying model that is used and approved by big wave pro Andrew Cotton. The major innovation for Madness in SS16 is in their Unlimited range; the ‘Donut Cuff’ system that prevents water entering at the wrist. Billabong Brand Manager François Liets comments on the Furnace
Phil from Tiki International explains how durability is one of their quality control criteria, particularly for certain joints or stress points. Joe at O’Neill Wetsuits has a suitable solution with the S seam that reinforces the join and enhances stretch. The stretch is the starting point of comfort for Benoit at Madness and he believes it should be pushed to the max to achieve the most comfort possible. “With regards to durability, we have implemented rubber stress point reinforcement to offer our customers even more longevity out of their wetsuit”, explains Abby Millar at Osprey.
“Proud to introduce PAH free, limestone neoprene with aqua based glue lamination. It’s a big step towards an ecologically responsible, realistically affordable neoprene”. Phil Bridges from Tiki International. 76
trend report
For Derevko, Donovan explains that simplicity is key: “We use a very minimal seam placement, with only four major panels - less seams = more stretch! For durability, we use our G5 neoprene which has proven to provide the ultimate mix of stretch and durability.”
HIGHLIGHT PRODUCTS While all brands supply a range full of wetsuits for all watermen (and ladies), each brand has a flagship suit or collection to boast about. Ion Wetsuits are shouting about their zipless wetsuit with the Ninja seam thanks to their improvements in its weight and stretch. “A Honolulu 2mm Patina, the most feminine wetsuit out there, a short, sexy design with long sleeves” will be on top of the pile at Jobe. For Tiki International, the Zepha ZF combines the maximum amount of stretch and warmth with a dry lined, zip-free interior like for the Zepha 2, constituted mostly of flex plus.
photo: Roxy
Between the PsychoOne, the PsychoFreak and PsychoTech, O’Neill Wetsuits have plenty on show with Technobutter2 offering supreme stretch and featherlike weight. For Madness Wetsuits, the Unlimited shorty for women with a slender cut and flashy colours will be their highlight of the season. They have also developed Lycra shorties for kids with bright colours so that parents can easily keep an eye on them on the beach. François Liets from Billabong selects the Furnace Pro 302 and the Spring Salty Days in the surf capsule collection as their key stories for SS16. Eleven8 frontal zip and the Icon pieces are leading the charge for Circle One, with the latest SCR super stretch material (4-way stretch), the Ultraseal and the LGS seal with a water drainage system to retain as little water as possible. The Oracle for men and the Omnitron for women with pink camouflage shows camo is still alive and kicking for SS16. These wetsuits combine long-lasting adhesives and blind seams with quickdry technology. At Quiksilver, the AG47 is top dog in the men’s collection as is the XY capsule in the women’s. Gul’s top-of-the-range piece is constructed with Gul’s X Flex neoprene providing 150% more stretch according to the brand’s commercial director Mike Pickering.
COLOURS While in Fall/Winter colours remain dark, next Summer’s collections will bring brighter colours and even fluoro to the fold. “We’ve seen big changes in recent years with bigger, bolder, brighter and even fluorescent colours popping up in the market,” explains Abby from Osprey. Derevko’s flashy green is now acknowledged as far afield as Australia and South Africa as the brand’s signature. Ion Wetsuits and Circle One subtly modify their hues from winter to summer, with Ion using a mixture of dark grey, red and orange while Circle One modifies their Pacific blue and fire red between seasons. Patricia at Jobe is using some bright colours and digital prints from photos to give a unique look. Wetsuits for women are a growing market and you will find them coordinated with bikinis at Rip Curl and O’Neill. Benoit at Madness knows that customers are looking for black wetsuits with touches of bright, flashy colours like yellow, which he is already pushing this season. Paolo from Onda Wetsuits is sticking with black, while Brunotti go with dark red and dark blue. François Liets at Billabong employs brights such as orange and yellow for their Furnace suit, while he also uses on-trend colours and patterns including: “Some Marrakesh prints. They are definitely brighter for the kids range with orange, mango and fluoro lime. For girls we have some very nice flower prints for the surf capsule”.
OVERVIEW The Spring/Summer wetsuit market is booming and ranges are constantly adding and updating functions and features. Zipless wetties have become a very strong trend for most brands and everyone is working on new materials in-house or with their suppliers. To accommodate multiple sessions in one day, brands are offering stretchy, long-lasting products, and more quick-drying linings than ever before. Fit and seam placement improves every year to bring more comfort and durability. Competitive pricing has become an important factor and each brand has to strike the best compromise between price and durability. Fluoro and bright colours will be strong trends. Women’s wetsuits will be accessorised to link in with fashion and will have a large choice of prints while remaining functional and ‘sexy’.
HIGHLIGHTS Zipless Fluoro and brights Multiple surf session Smart seam placement
“We use a very minimal seam placement, with only four major panels - less seams = more stretch! For durability, we use our G5 neoprene which has proven to provide the ultimate mix of stretch and durability.” Donovan Marais, Chief Executive at Derevko 78
buyer science
BUYER SCIENCE Surfer and artist Ivo Nisa opened the first 58 Surf in Peniche in 2001 and Nisa is still head buyer for the shop which now also operates a store further down the coast in Ericeira, as well as a successful online store. Falling under the Despomar umbrella, 58 Surf offer a huge range of surfboards and strong lines of technical material and apparel. SOURCE spoke with Ivo for this issue’s Buyer Science, to find out more on his buying process nearly 15 years after their launch. How long have you been a buyer for Despomar? And how did you start out in this position? I´ve been a buyer for Despomar for about three and a half years. This naturally happened with Despomar, as my former independent company had a really good relationship with them and the hard goods world, so things just progressed. I opened the first 58 Surf shop in Baleal, Peniche in 2001. During your time as a buyer, what have been some of the most important lessons you have learned in how to cater for your customers? Being honest and clear with the customers about what you have to offer them. 58 Surf isn’t about pushing cheap, bad quality products to the customer. What is the process of choosing the brands to stock in your stores? We’re always open to see what’s new. We first of all collect all the information on new brands, create some comparisons and this way it allows us to decide what would work best for our customers and our stores. Do you find that you need different strategies for buying for online and buying for the retail stores? Yes for sure, but there is some common ground between the two. The theme that runs through our stores are: customer tendencies, the beach life, and an urban buzz. Apart from that numbers are the key. We need to keep a balance for both rolling, and new projects. We like to remain positive but also careful with regards to new buying projects. Which brands are doing it right at the moment? There are always a few brands that are incredibly successful and keep things fast, but in the end I think that there needs to be a balance between the big, medium and small brands; they all need to exist to make the market fun. All the brands we work with are somehow doing it right. Like I said, we need this balance. If a small brand grows will it be the best? Or will this growth stop them from being so good? If a big brand becomes smaller, does it get better, or more cool? We need them all fox a well balanced industry. What is it that makes your stores so popular in your opinion? A lot of dedication, work and care between the team. And the involvement of lots of our friends.
How are you adjusting your buying strategy to adapt to recent currency issues? I’ve adjusting what I purchase and have to plan ahead much better for seasonal products. Which tradeshows do you attend and how important are they for your decision-making? I don’t visit many tradeshows. Most of my research comes from watching people live their day to day lives, and doing the same when I’m travelling throughout the year. I like visiting the industry’s factories to understand how everything is produced, how it works, and how it is improved. I just try to look at these things as a teenager with a 35 year old’s conscience and bring the dream to the racks and shelves. What trends are you noticing with streetwear/outdoor crossover segments? People’s personal likes and tastes are changing so rapidly with the amount of information that’s readily available. Trends are changing direction all the time, and it’s no fun to stay in one place. Outdoor wear and streetwear are naturally mixing. We want to look good and feel comfortable at work, at the beach, on the running track, skatepark, dance floor, etc. Everyone is trying everything these days. In my opinion, the trend is to be comfortable wherever it is you need to be everyday. Do you have any advice to new brands on how to appeal to retail buyers? Have the surprise factor. Have a passionate and caring representation of your country amongst the team and at events; and also have a solid sales team.
I like visiting the industry’s factories to understand how everything is produced, how it works, and how it is improved. I just try to look at these things as a teenager with a 35 year old’s conscience and bring the dream to the racks and shelves. 80
brand profile
MAUI AND SONS Maui and Sons started off in California as a surf lifestyle apparel company. Their cookie logo on the rear pocket of their shorts became iconic and 30 years on the brand is just as fresh and bright today. Headed up by Nuno Fonseca in Europe, the brand are providing a multitude of boardsports products ranging from SUPs and cruisers, to boardshorts and their own coconut water. Read on to find out why Maui and Sons have something for everyone… Can you tell us a bit about the history of Maui & Sons, going right back to the beginning in the 80s. In 1980 three young surfers from Southern California decided to start a cookie company named Maui’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. They burnt their first batch of cookies, and turned their attention to designing fashion pieces for surfing and action sports. The cookies became inspiration for the Maui and Sons logo. Inspired by the creative genius and founding partner artist Rick Rietveld, Maui and Sons as their new business was called, was launched with bold ideas, a few thousand dollars and a pair of madras surf shorts. The company aggressively marketed their unique designs with their logo on their back pocket to Southern California’s surf community. The rapid growth was tough for the founders, and they enlisted the help of Richard Harrington, a successful businessman who purchased the company in 1989. Richard saw the global potential and transformed Maui and Sons from a clothing manufacturer to a brand licensing company and expanded its operations internationally. Maui and Sons has grown to become one of the best-known brands in action sports apparel and equipment worldwide. Today, the company’s products are sold in over 100 countries around the globe. For over 30 years, Maui and Sons has created products that represent an image and a way of life that appeals to those who aspire to an active fun-
loving lifestyle and the global surf culture. Who is on the management team now and what are their backgrounds? The company is still managed by Richard Harrington, who is very much ‘hands on’ and his main support comes from the President of the company, Jim Demet who has been in the company for a decade. In Europe, it’s all down to myself and Blake Harrington, Richard’s son, to expand and grow the business and product lines. We all have quite different backgrounds, Jim is a lawyer and I come from the more brand marketing of active sports brands such as Adidas and Nike. How do you differentiate from competitors? As a brand, our Sharkman visuals and graphics and our neons are straight away a differentiator factor. Our attitude also stands out, because we are probably the only surf and lifestyle brand that goes mainstream and does collaborations with mass-market lifestyle retailers. In the past few years we have done collaborations with H&M, Pull and Bear, OVS and even Primark, but at the same time, with a strong segmentation strategy we have been able to sell our core range into pro stores and department stores. What do you see in the future for the company? In Europe we are taking back the strong positioning that we had in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
We have studied the market and realized that the consumer values our brand, and so we have defined distribution strategies to give the consumer the product they want. We are growing in many areas, but the wheeled goods are definitely a growth accelerator for us and we can aspire to leading in many categories of the wheeled goods market. How do you see the development of the boardsports apparel market? The markets are changing; if we look at Europe we will see a completely different market in the UK relatively to the GAS (German/Austrian/Swiss) countries. I personally divide Europe into several markets and we have to adjust any product we do for them. GAS countries are looking for quality and high testing in products, new technologies and more conservative trends. The Decathlon Countries as I call them - countries where Decathlon has a huge impact with a large number of stores and retail aggressive pricing, we need to have a range that provides good designs but also a benchmarked price point and a value for product. The important factor is that consumers all over want a healthier lifestyle, so the sporting industry has everything to gain from this, and we will see the markets grow. Boardsports, mainly longboards and cruisers have another important aspect of growth, which is their growing use as transportation.
WWW.MAUIANDSONS.COM 83
brand profile
NICE SKATEBOARD Frankfurt based Nice Skateboard is experiencing fast growth since its inception in 2014. The company is now to embark on its fourth production run of the first 20 models of longboards and is due to release 28 new models over the next few months. General Manager Gerd Weisner explains how the brand’s extensive product range including drop-through longboards, cruisers and park models combined with their speed of growth has made them a brand to watch for 2016. How was the concept of Nice Skateboard born? GTA Distribution is a long time player in the boardsports distribution. In the past 20 years we took care of many brands with a focus on surf, snow and, to certain extent, skate. All our staff have grown up on the streets of Frankfurt and skateboarding is in the DNA of the company. Two years ago the city built an incredible skate park between the river and the new European Banking Tower. It´s one of the best, designed by the legends of the local skateboard club. Our company is located directly by the river, only 500 metres from the park. In the first run we focused on all kinds of dropthrough longboards. This autumn is the release of the cruiser and park models as well as our truck and wheel brand Porter. What values are important to Nice Skateboard? Nice is not limited only to longboards and we are a next generation skate brand. We are open minded with a strong emphasis on design and quality. Our friends, staff and team riders use longboards for long distance travel and downhill trips as they use cruisers through park and bowl. Functionality and quality are most important in any category. Graphic design is also super important for selling the products but in the first step we all have to agree on functional shapes and the quality standard of
Nice Skateboard. You skate and you like to use your own product because of performance this is the most important value. What distinguishes your company from the competitors? Why should retailers sell your products? Energy, speed to drive decisions, capability to invest into product and ignore fixed margin rules. If we get a better skateboard we devote more attention and money to production. We want to be a benchmark in great design as well as price/quality ratio in all price points. We have a clear distribution strategy – whatever we do, we do it thinking long term. What ambitions do you have in terms of future development of the company? It´s been like a jump start and we have presented the first 20 longboard models. Now, just eight months later, we are into the fourth largeest production run for these models. We will release 14 new models this autumn and another 14 in the beginning of 2016, adding cruiser and park models to the large range of longboards. Nice Skateboard will offer fantastic product performance and real artwork resulting in natural growth of the brand. What do you think about the European market and the general evolution of the industry?
WWW.NICESKATEBOARD.COM 84
It´s a wide spread market with different cultures and that´s so interesting. Building a European brand is like building a worldwide brand and far from boring. We love real shops run by real people with different character. We see chain stores taking market shares, general internet retail ‘corporatocracy’ selling niche products, we see clothing brands selling longboards, we see brands selling to consumers – this is a modern jungle. Anyway we believe in clear strategies and understanding of market rules and we know that the best products, brands, and retailers will find each other. How do you use sustainable materials in your products? Canadian maple is a fairly sustainable wood. Bamboo is very sustainable. Combined with epoxy glue the environmental aspect is as good as possible. Do you support any athletes and if yes, how? We have started with a number of grassroots riders and friends and support them not only with boards and clothing – there´s always a cold beer in the fridge too. Are you running any other marketing projects and if yes what? In 2016 we are planning a flow ride contest – more to come…and we will grow the number of the “THIS IS NICE” family.
brand profile
KORUA With its unconventional shapes, the German-based snowboard brand Korua Shapes offers an alternative snowboarding experience. Inspired by snow-surfing and founded by pro-riders Nicholas Wolken and Stephan Maurer, Korua aims at bringing the fun back to the mountains with specially designed boards for different conditions. Can you tell us about the history of the company? I had been struggling to identify with snowboarding for a while. I guess it had to do with the fact that I was getting older. On my first trip to Japan, filming for True Color Films I saw and got to learn about the snow-surfing movement first-hand by the Car Danchi crew. The Japanese focus on perfectly executed turns and the overall surf inspired approach was right up my alley and I immediately felt at home again. At the same time, I was developing boards with my previous sponsor. Now I was pushing for new and experimental shapes and telling them how cool it would be to start a European Snowsurf brand. This must have left a impression because the following July I got a call from Jerry, the product developer I had been working with, telling me he found a way to get this going. After the phone call, I immediately got Stephan Maurer whose partnership with Burton just ended, and Alvaro Vogel from True Color Films on board. We were longtime friends and I had been surfing and snowboarding with them, so I knew they had a similar idea of what snowboarding is, or could be. Together we brainstormed and worked a lot on profiling the brand to present it to an investor (WINCKLER&CO.,LTD) who granted us a budget within which we can now realize our ideas. At the moment it is me (Nicholas Wolken; brand management, rider, product development, distribution
Switzerland), Stephan Maurer (rider, product development, design, social media management), Jerry Niedermeier (product development, budget planning, distribution Europe) and WINCKLER&CO.,LTD (Distribution Asia) involved. Not to forget our ambassadors and friends whose opinions and ideas are key to the whole project. You blend old shapes with present ones and simultaneously add something new to each board. Why did you decide to focus on unconventional boards in terms of shape? It’s pretty simple; they are way more fun to ride, especially in the conditions they are designed for. Same way it’s usually more fun to surf a longboard in knee-high conditions and a shortboard in fast and hollow waves. Every board has a very different character and offers new experiences. Learning to know a board and feel its preferences is something really enjoyable. Most of our line carves well on slopes, is directional and a variation of a swallowtail because we believe the majority of snowboarders ride groomers / occasionally powder and almost never ride switch, and if they do so, it’s like five turns a day. And for those few who throw big switch tricks in deep powder, there is still the Trannyfinder. My experience is that our shapes make riding simply easier and the easier the board is to ride the better you ride and the more fun you will have, right? WWW.KORUA-SHAPES.COM
86
What is the process of building a Korua snowboard - from getting the idea for the shape to the materials used etc? We first develop a concept for each board in the line, starting by noting the purpose and characteristics it should have followed by hand sketches. Of course there are different opinions and experiences in how a certain trait influences a board’s performance. That’s why we (the riders and product developers) get together as a team to get all the specs and materials settled. After that, Jerry draws the first drafts on the computer and we give him feedback on it, which he applies in the second draft. This process goes on until we are all happy with the whole line. Next, we produce and test the prototypes to see how well our concept was implemented and if necessary make additional changes. The whole process takes a few months usually… For whom are the company’s products designed? Which is the target group of Korua? We build boards that we personally would like to ride, so I guess the target group - if you can call it as such - is male and around 28 - 40 years old. After this first season we had some specific demands from women and Japanese customers that we integrated in our new boards.
green page
OUTERKNOWN SPEARHEADING A MOVEMENT Kelly Slater launched the exclusive men’s label Outerknown in the US. With its ‘best practice’ material selection, the eleven-time surf champion sets a very clear statement. Especially since the surf industry clearly lags behind the bigger outdoor brands and the smaller and more innovative surf labels when it comes to strategic sustainability or any movement towards a circular economy. Cira Riedel from GreenRoomVoice investigates. Kelly and John Moore (American GQ’s Best New Menswear Designer), have recognized that we don’t need raw virgin materials to tailor quality clothing. They use the polyamide “Econyl” by the Italian manufacturer Aquafil, a waste product that is up-cycled from discarded fishing nets. Furthermore Outerknown is a bluesign® system partner, which means that hazardous chemicals are eliminated from the manufacturing process right at the start via a restricted substance list, indicating what chemicals can be used safely and in what quantities. Once the items have reached all the bluesign® requirements, Kelly can tag them with the ‘bluesign® approved product’ hang tag. Moreover Slater uses regenerated wool and organic cotton in the simply styled and timeless pieces: muted colours, little accessories, little recognition value, high quality. The regenerated wool from Italy, which we find for example in the Hemisphere Peacoat, is not a new concept. Quite the contrary. The fact that Kelly’s clientele classifies recycled material as an upgrade, where the ‘new’ was recognized as the decisive quality feature not so long ago, is kind of revolutionary. The surf superstar prefers used wool, which hints at the rethinking of his generation. Even 50 years
HOW DID HUMANITY CREATE LINEAR ECONOMIES? Currently, the most popular solution for almost all products is a chemical one and has existed for about 150 years. It started off with the chemists’ fascination for a waste product coming from steelmaking, and laid the foundation for an endless variety of products. Suddenly they could produce synthetic dyes, medicines and plastics, which was revolutionary. A new scientific system was set up and a chemical industry, which was at first based on a waste product from steelmaking and later on raw fossil fuel oil. The raw material was cheap, and from that, incredible wealth and riches were created very fast, to which the countries of the first world have become accustomed. The age of the throwaway society began. With the production of synthetic dyes and fashion the marketing topic and the idea of fast moving consumer goods with planned obsolescence began. However, due to the impending resource scarcity and the associated increase in costs of raw materials, it is increasingly important to turn this linear thinking back to circles and to find alternatives to fossil fuels. It is vital for agriculture, chemistry and economics to push policy again in a circular direction and get away from the one-way
“Everyone dreams of a coastal lifestyle - what that surfing lifestyle represents - but they don’t necessarily want to dress head to toe like a surfer.” John Moore, Designer Outerknown
ago this practice was deemed not very progressive, which is why the well known ‘wool mark’ label was introduced to distinguish freshly shorn wool. When recycled materials become the core of a brand’s material philosophy, like at Outerknown, we enter into the mind-set of ‘Circular Economy’. Using materials, which are extracted from a former existence as a product of some sort is one part of it. The fact that these values are nowadays associated with quality, an up market clientele and a substantial price tag, leads us to acknowledging a shift of mind-set in society. The idea of circularity in itself is nothing new; in nature, all material flows are of a circular manner, waste nurtures the new. It’s only over the course of the last two centuries, that we have created linear process flows despite the fact that it cannot be continued indefinitely.
street solutions and dead ends. What Outerknown is showing is best practice. It has to be said though, that the price you pay for it, is related to the positioning of the brand, the design and the quality rather than just the fact that sustainability plays a key role in the design process and choice of materials. There are other examples of similar smallish brands, who deliver this kind of sustainability, consideration for the environment and best practice in their geographical context at a more reasonable price. Where Outerknown is definitely strong, is the quality aspect. Good quality lasts, especially when the design creates a lovable piece that serves its owner a long time. Let’s hope the women’s collection will benefit from the same principles. Less fast fashion, more carefully tailored ‘must keeps’ in our lives will be a real treat.
WWW.GREENROOMVOICE.COM 88
NEW PRODUCT 01-PENNY - LONGBOARD Penny Skateboards has added longboards to an already extensive range of premium plastic skateboards. The new 36” Penny Longboard offers a fresh riding style that won’t disappoint. Penny Skateboards, at its core, is about making skateboarding accessible to all and the 36” Longboard provides a new style of Penny boarding. www.pennyskateboardsonline.com
01
02-FREEWATERS - SKY TRAINER The Sky Trainer is a super light and clean lifestyle shoe that can be dressed up or down to adapt to any moment. A pair of size 9 weighs just 13oz - similar weight to a pair of sandals. It features Smartsuede, a highly breathable vegan microsuede, in a minimal seam design that provides a soft, custom fit. The Super Pillow insole is twice as thick as a standard insole. www.freewaters.com 03-URBAN BEACH - CLOUD NINE 4 WAY STRETCH BOARDSHORT Pro-rider Tom Butler’s first signature boardshort is inspired by his personality and big wave surfing achievements. Specially constructed with a polyester & elastane blend making it a 4 way stretch boardshort for unprecedented freedom of movement for surfers. Side vents + zipper pocket detailing add an updated technical element to their premium boardshorts. www.urbanbeachclothing.com
03
04
04-EASTPAK - WYOMING INTO OLDIES BACKPACK There are true vintage classics that require no intervention at all, like the ‘Into oldies’ replica print that comes straight from their 1987 catalogue. Dusted off and reproduced for their Into The Out collection, this bag resurrects the 80s underground scene with its bold and colourful graphic print. www.eastpak.com/eu-en/ 05-SANUK - BIANCA As part of the Alphie Collection the product features outsoles and inserts that are incredibly light and super flexible. Soft suede oxford lace-up with leather logo detail. Super squishy footbed featuring yoga mat heel pod, arch support and antimicrobial additive. Same comfort of a Yoga Mat Sandal in a shoe. www.sanuk.com 06-OSPREY - CHECKERS LONGBOARD This twin tip, drop through board, features an impressive laser-etched precision cut deck with a checkers board design. The tech spec also catches the eye: 35” x 9” 7 ply Canadian Maple and 1 ply of Fibreglass Board, ABEC 9 chrome bearings, SHR 82A PU Wheels with Ground Edges. www.osprey-surf.co.uk 90
02
05
06
market intelligence
MARKET INTELLIGENCE UK By Gordon Way I am writing this in a bit of a state of shock – for business and personal reasons. I lost someone close to me, way before his time and completely unexpected. It really does make you count your chickens and encourages you to re-evaluate your life and, perhaps more importantly, evaluate your way of life. Of course life does go on. We stop, evaluate, think a bit harder. Hopefully confirm that we are doing some things right and then, most often press on regardless, although I like to think something has changed. Then another shock! An ex President of the SIGB, Paul Halinan, has lost a leg to Cancer. This guy is one of the most affable and active 50+ people you can meet. He is now most certainly in a position to re-evaluate his life but one thing is for certain - his outlook, his drive and his passion for life will not be dampened. He may have lost a leg but he’s not lost his sense of humour, which will hopefully stand him in good stead (pun intended). OK – here we are… apparently at the end of the recession, apparently with the UK economy flourishing, apparently with UK spend on the rise. Consumer lending increasing, the pound stronger than it has been for years and yet I have to use the word ‘apparently’ because there is plenty of bad news out there. The level of retailers unable to pay their bills remains at an all time high, some key retailers in real trouble and the summer business (for some) has simply not kicked in. SUP is flourishing for sure – with more brands and marketing than you can throw a stick at – but this in turn is knocking other areas of business – particularly Kayak and Surf. Surfboard sales are generally down and the market does not appear to have really got off the starting blocks with most retailers already talking about the ‘end of the season’ and their overstock positions. Distributors try to paint a rosy picture to everyone but a visit to some of the warehouses tells another story. And so the cycle continues. The end is nigh (of the recession that is). It’s coming – hold your horses. I am old enough (and some) to remember the last hard recession. As we entered the recession I recall thinking that our business was ‘recession proof’ – as the economic world around us collapsed we were still doing well. Then as the rest of the world left the recession we anticipated that things were going to go off with a bang. But they didn’t … we appeared to be about the last part of the economy to really recover. Why? I have no idea at all, but my gut feeling is that we are in a similar position this time round. Luxury cars are selling well and overall new car sales at highest levels for eight years, people are spending money on their homes – try and get a tradesman now… but the board part of the UK economy does not appear to be flourishing… yet! It’s not all doom and gloom – but I had to look harder than normal for some positives. Ian from Boardshop / Hard Cloud is having a good time on some fronts, not on all: “Hardware is phenomenal – we’ve had a great two months. Yet at the same time the soft goods sector is horrendous… we’ve had a terrible couple of months.” So hitting on the positive first I asked Ian why hard goods were doing so well: “I’m not sure I really know the answer. We have a true sales approach here and a customer service focus where some competitors may not be so professional. We’re solidly turning
enquiries into sales, we’re enthusiastic and passionate about what we do and we all speak the same language as our customers. That’s what is driving sales and that is what is leading us to close the deals.” And on the not-so-happy state of soft goods, Ian has a clue as to the loss of fortunes: “There’s no loyalty on soft goods and price is 100% king – as soon as someone drops the price by just a fraction the customer will shop elsewhere. Our margin is evaporating on soft goods so naturally our focus is switching elsewhere. Until suppliers realise this that’s the way it will continue.” Looking forward to winter, Ian once again relates it back to customer service: “With the way the pound/euro is, it’s going to be a hard winter for sure - pricing is going to be more sensitive than ever but we are going to fight on customer service. Our customers know they can rely on us whatever happens and wherever they are. I don’t think a lot of the Euro retailers, who will undoubtedly target the UK customers, have quite got this service thing in their business plan” Kitesurfing is still a very specialist boardsport and is not something that most board retailers get involved in. Nevertheless this is still a board business and, at least until this year, it has been booming. Tris Cawte is one of the partners of The Kitesurf Centre at Camber Sands: “The year has been mixed but overall I think that kite has reached a bit of a plateau. The best I can say is that it is going OK. Nothing to write home about. That said our business is being affected by building of new sea defences so looking forward I am actually quite optimistic that things will pick up next year”. Of course, like all board sports, kite is weather dependent but it’s even harder for a business like this who needs the good weather to bring in the holidaymakers and then needs the wind in order to teach people. “The weather is always make or break for us – we need the sun and the wind - then we can teach and drive sales through the shop – it’s a tough call”. Finally I turned to PC (Hectic and O’Neill Wetsuit’s Peter Caldwell) who not only runs O’Neill Wetsuits for Europe from the UK but is also the distributor for a variety of surf, winter and outdoor brands. “Boards are good” talking about Firewire, “the purchase of the brand by Kelly Slater has helped and quite simply the brand is going from strength to strength.” It seems that this corner of the surf market is booming. With his O’Neill hat on PC is still optimistic: “We should see approaching double digit growth this year despite some strong and focussed marketing by competitors. All sectors are strong but SUP is driving some good growth for us – particularly in the Lycra area where people are now using rash vests for sun protection.” But what about winter? “We have Stance which is booming. It’s sad but true - your day can be determined by what socks you pull on in the morning! A new pair or a favourite old pair can determine your day.” That’s honestly what PC said. I had to quote him. Salesman to the death. Oh and one positive for Paul (I know he will not mind me making a tasteless joke at his expense) – his socks are going to last twice a long. Summer’s gone (or going) – bring on winter.
93
market intelligence
MARKET INTELLIGENCE FRANCE By Benoît Brecq The economic climate in France has improved since the start of the year. It got even better in July as well. Is this a signal that the upturn has arrived? These figures are rather good but do not confirm that an economic upturn is here as such. They confirm that growth is accelerating, which is not quite the same thing. We can only talk about an upturn when growth starts to create employment. For Eric Heyer, economist at the French Observatory of Economic Conjuncture (OFCE), we are in more of a ‘rebound’ phase. This has to last long enough to change the behavioural expectations of businesses so that they start to hire people again. Businesses also have to start to invest again. However, the situation seems to be heading in the right direction. Indeed, indications of a turnaround are multiplying. As Acoss noted in July, employment has increased even more in the second quarter. At the end of June, the number of unemployed people was practically unchanged from a month before. In Metropolitan France, the unemployment rate itself diminished by 0.1% to 10% in the first quarter of 2015. The economic climate has also improved further still at the start of this summer. According to INSEE (national institute of statistics studies), the morale of bosses has gone up one point on June when it had already stabilised itself. This is one of the elements that shows that activity is on the up and that an upturn is quietly building. Although it remains slow and steady, the pick up in growth - carried by low oil prices, the Euro and interest rates - is allowing businesses to finally pep up a bit after years of stagnating activity. As Insee confirm, “Indications of a comeback for the economy as a whole are found within areas showing favourable economic conditions”. It is within this favourable economic context that the summer season, crucial to our market in France, has taken place.. While the start of this season was pretty calm, “sales in the months of June and July are up on last year,” confides Gontrand Marchal from the OGM Bodyboard Shop in Capbreton. This trend is confirmed by all the coastal shops. While the month of June is only slightly up on last year, it’s clear that July is much better than last year” says Fred Tisné, manager of TAO surf shop in Hossegor. The exceptional weather at the start of this 2015 season seems to be one of the reasons behind our industry’s situation. Indeed “exceptional temperatures in June and July combined with really nice waves encouraged tourists to come and consume” according to Didier Poupon from BUD Surf Shop in Longeville sur mer. Fred from TAO confirms, “the arrival of lots of tourists at the start of the season along with nice little waves and good weather helped us sell well throughout all our range of boards, Malibus, Mini Malibus as well as foam boards.” The same thing happened down on the Mediterranean coast where “the nice weather and little waves favoured sales of entry-level boards for beginners” according to Patrick Colin from the shop ALOHA in Six Fours. Patrick continued: “We have indeed seen a rise in the number of foam boards sold this season. The boards can be used by children as well as by their parents. With short, playful shapes, these boards are no longer reserved for beginners and are now being adopted by surfers 94
of a good standard as an alternative to PU or classic epoxy boards for summer and its crowded waves.” Brands like Catch Surf, Softech and Softjoy have cottoned on and are offering a large range that seems to have had some success in shops. The same rings true in town. In Lyon, David from the shop ABS has noticed a “good rate of sale in summer wear, especially in shorts and caps.” However, other “products seem to be slightly down on last year like Bobs and skateshoes” for Florian Bathaud at Okla in Toulouse. But for David, the skateboard aisle seems to have “benefitted the most from this great weather”, confirming a trend that has clearly established itself recently: “cruisers are still selling well and this phenomenon is showing no sign of slowing down at the start of the season, quite the opposite actually.” Brands like “Globe, Penny and Prohibition have relaunched skateboard fashion by transposing the Californian skate spirit into Europe.” Florian from Okla confirms: “Skateboarding is exploding this year. The weather is suitable and the development of modern concrete skateparks is encouraging the activity’s growth.” “Street skateboarding seems to be making a real comeback amongst the younger ones” adds Florian. The same goes for the coastal shops like at Tao in Hossegor where Fred confirms that: “the skateboard market has been growing for two years and this summer season seems to confirm that.” In SUP, the weather has also played a big part for the market, especially when it comes to “Inflatable touring Stand Ups and beginner SUPs which make up most of the sales,” according to Patrick from Aloha. Didier from Bud Surf Shop notes for his part “a slight slow down in the growth of the SUP market,” but everyone agrees in saying that most of the demand is for good quality inflatable SUPs. This product is what the vast majority of shop customers are seeking and sells the most with brands like Red Paddle, Fanatic and Ari’i Nui. One thing is for sure, and all shops agree once again: buyers are in search of a deal. Even though in France the economic lights are on green and upturn seems to be on the horizon, household and therefore tourist buying power, remains limited for the moment. The Euro/Dollar balance has caused a slight rise in shop prices this year but because it was so generalised the final consumer didn’t really have any alternative but to suck up the increase. The summer clientele is comprised of tourists and beginners by the vast majority, and for them, price and brand image are the two major factors leading to an in-shop purchase. For more regular surfers, quality and especially quality/price ratio becomes a major factor in deciding to buy, but they tend to spend more towards the end of the season. Let’s hope that the end of season skies are as blue as in June and July so that this encouraging trend is reinforced and we can draw up a completely positive report of the 2015 season, which seems to be starting off in the right direction.
market intelligence
MARKET INTELLIGENCE GERMANY By Anna Langer The folk song ‘City of New Orleans’ is better known in Germany as the version with the title ‘When are we gonna have a real summer again?’, by Dutch comedian Rudi Carrell and isn’t only one of the greatest hits of all times, but also one of the favourite summer phrases for Germans - normally. Because this year, we were blessed more than generously with summer, sun and sunshine and so the only question remains: how did this pay out for the boardsports market? Definitely very positively for the Your People distribution house based in Stuttgart in the South of Germany, where owner Kolja was up by more than 20% compared to the previous year. He mainly attributes this to the new ‘Summer’ brands like Maui and Sons Longboards, Animal and Foolmoon SUP that he added to his assortment this year. “Of course the surf market is not as big down here in the South as it is up north. But SUP is developing really good. In Bavaria it is much stronger than in our county BadenWürttemberg and also in a variety of cities up north, like for example Hamburg and Berlin,” he reports. Longboards continue to be high in demand as well, “especially Penny boards, the original ones as well as cheaper versions, that are saving retailers summer business.“ Kolja continues. He was slightly surprised by Sector 9’s performance though, a brand that hasn’t profited from this trend as much as he had expected. “At least in Germany they’ve let other brands like Madrid get to the forefront.“ The Santo Loco shop in Munich also adjusted their range of longboards and cruisers according to the rising demand, sales manager Roman explains: “We extended the choice for our customers a lot and will continue to keep holding on to skate- and longboarding in the future. Globe and Never Summer play important roles for us in this segment.” The core competence of the shop in the pedestrian precinct in the city centre continues to be in surfing though, an area that was developed and strengthened again this spring. And that’s no surprise, after all the river surfing capital of Germany allows for surfing “any time of the day or night. On top of that comes the fact that the surf community hasn’t just been growing since yesterday. The offspring is ready to rumble!” Hence Santo Loco stocked up mainly on neoprene and accessories. “Brands like Patagonia, Rip Curl and O’Neill are working very closely with us, big thanks to them for that!” The Surf Café integrated into the shop is also working well. “We simply wanted to offer our customers a bit more to ‘sea’! And what could be more reasonable, than offering people who are interested in you and your lifestyle, the chance to enjoy a tasty cup of coffee together?!” In the end, making the idea into a reality was a lot of hard work, but it was worth the effort anyway: “The beauty about this café concept is that even people who normally don’t have much to do with boardsports get to dive into the world of surfing at least a little bit while they stop at our place to get their coffee.” In Kempten the year has been “by all means marbled”, as 5ive owner Bernhard ‘Boogie’ tells us. “We were fighting harsh conditions in winter for the fourth subsequent year with the 5ive Skateshop and came to the decision to put an end to our story with snowboard 96
hardware and outerwear after 19 years in the business. We held a clearance sale in spring 2015 that was accepted way better than we thought. Hence we were able to sell off a lot of stuff, albeit with reductions between 40 and 70%.” In return they extended and developed their skateboard hardware offering a lot, that contributed to a positive development in the second quarter of the year, next to shoes, he continues. “With more than 150 skateboards and 130 longboards as well as sufficient supplies and accessories in that range, we’re making hearts skip a beat.” Because sometimes it can be a good thing to part with something – also from certain brands, as 5ive did with Naketano this year. “We didn’t agree with their sale and distribution strategy anymore,” Boogie explains. DC, Element, Volcom and Brixton continue to drive profit and also the sister shop, the Hice Ladiesstore, has positive records to talk about. “Hice benefits from a good brand mix, including big players like Vans, Irie Daily and Gang, but also smaller names such as Toms or Satorisan, that work really well.” After “two online-shop adventures”, as Boogie calls them, they currently concentrate on the stationary shop. As does Santo Loco. “The competition is massive online,” Roman agrees. “We continue to work on developing our online presence and will make our homepage even more consumer friendly shorty, but contrary to most other shops we don’t have a focus on the online segment.” Genuine salesman with a passion for his sport that he is, he continues: “We love to be in personal contact with our customers and to share our experiences with them. We want to ‘give our customers a home’, where they feel at ease and always be supportive by their side.” A highly promising strategy, as Kolja has been noticing for a while now through his YourPeople distribution is that the dominance of online shops towards stationary ones “is in big parts also due to the quality of consulting in stationary shops”. He continues: “At events we continue to notice that the consumers are still wishing for proper advice and a nice shopping experience.” So especially in the snowboard segment, he found that “a lot of older snowboarders can’t even find a shop anymore that they feel comfortable going to. So they either go back to skis, or they start shopping online.” And 5ive is by far not the only shop that has parted with snowboards recently, Kolja reports. “It also applies to various sports retailers and even a couple of boardsport/skate core shops, that are not willing to take the risk anymore, because of the high costs.” Retailers who actively engage in the scene with mountain trips, courses or events on the other hand continue to raise their profits. Santo Loco extended their snow segment with a board service option last year that was a big help in achieving set goals despite the super mild start to last winter. “Snowboarding is so, so dependent on the weather. When there’s no snow in the flatter areas like the cities, there is almost no demand for snowboards and outerwear. On top of that, there’s almost no snowboarding offspring growing up!” Roman exemplifies the weather problem that no shop in the world can solve. Luckily this summer season we didn’t struggle with that for once.
market intelligence
98
SPAIN
ITALY
By Jokin Arroyo Uriarte
By Franz Josef Holler
During the first half of the year the Spanish economy has continued to strengthen. After the 0.9% growth in GDP between January and March, the short-term information available indicates that activity could experience a slight acceleration in the second quarter, up to 1% quarter-on-quarter, which would put the annual rate at 3.1 %. Consumption is being driven by increased confidence and by the impact of the positive evolution of labour income, lower oil prices and the Spanish income tax reform on their disposable income. The labour market field, employment displayed some acceleration in its already high growth rate in the second quarter, with a further rise in affiliations to Social Security in industry and market services and sustained high rates of job creation in other branches of production. In turn, the number of unemployed registered with the Public State Employment Service (SEPE) was significantly reduced (7.8% in May). Focusing on the sliding sports sector, the trend is positive, with an overall increase in the sport, and therefore, the purchase of technical equipment, and a very slow recovery of sales of clothing and footwear, although with these products there is very strong competition from fashion brands that are producing collections with a marked surf and skate style at very low prices. Caribbean Surf &Skate Shop family, one of the most well-established sliding sports shops in Madrid (110 Ayala Street) informed us: “The sliding sports sector, has come to a standstill. Skateboarding and longboarding on asphalt have stagnated somewhat, and sales have stopped increasing exponentially, as was the case in previous years. As for surfing, the number of surfers has increased slightly; with the notable presence of more women in this sport. Surfskate is experiencing good growth in cities like Madrid. There are more and more fans of this type of board, looking to get around the city in a convenient and efficient way while practising surfing exercises. Clothing and footwear are unfortunately at rock bottom - despite new brands that are emerging to try to bring some new life to the scene. But nowadays, it is impossible to compete in this regard against large multinationals like such as Inditex. For the online business; Spain is not yet totally used to shopping online. There is also a lot of competition, and at the moment the customer acts as a price tracker. It is important to be present on the internet and to offer this means, but it is not the panacea...” Focusing a little more on the surf market, Santi Zaldua of Next Surfing Company and Premium Wetsuits says; “Luckily surfing is not suffering the crisis as much as other sports, the opening of new schools is helping more people access surf than before, this is producing a greater number of surfers in the water, which benefits the surf industry in general (shops, schools, distributors and brands). So far this year sales have increased by 30%. We will have to see the impact prices have on sales next year due to the decrease in value of the Euro against the Dollar. As a brand and distributor we have had good sales of all our products (wetsuits, surfboards, soft-surfboards, soft-SUPs, accessories...) to both schools and shops, positioning our products very well in the market and opening up the market in France and Portugal. A result of the crisis, these new surfers who have accessed surf through schools, and lifelong surfers, are looking for new brands that offer quality products at competitive prices. To summarise, we can say that the technical surf material industry is booming.”
The economic outlook is decent according to different sources, including Italian media channels but this past Spring 2015 season was not that great for the boardsports and streetwear industry. Store owners overall complained about slower sell-through than in previous seasons, especially in clothing. Shoes in comparison sold better and remain the main turnover driver. Hardgoods have been stable, especially cruisers and longboards - a trend that seems like it will stay alive for another couple of seasons. Surf is doing OK but surf stores also struggled more than last season. The sale period was important, even crucial for retailers to be successful this year. The first few days of the sale period were however quite slow, as the country saw temperatures reach as high as 40 degrees, with people opting to spend their days on the beach and mountains and postponed shopping for a bit. Which wasn’t the greatest news as many retailers hoped for a very strong sale period, as they still had enough inventory left and became quite nervous. However, overall the sale turned out to be quite decent. We experienced a great spring and summer with sun all day long so we had plenty of time to spend surfing, skateboarding, cruising and longboarding. Boardsports are trending a right now, meaning a lot of stores outside of our industry try to gain that momentum to sell clothes and shoes to the so called ‘boardsport’ or ‘action sport’ customer, something a lot of smaller stores notice as a growing competitor. Competition also grew as a lot of bigger brands are selling into chains and make it harder for smaller core stores to survive, who now compete with online and bigger stores selling the same products. Longobarding has found its way into many skate shops now, as did cruiser boards a couple of seasons ago. Lots of cruiser customers are now switching to longboarding or mid-sized cruiser boards or even skateboarding! The running shoe trend is here to stay, but thankfully the selection in most stores is well balanced and the offering goes from vulc to cupsole in nearly every store. Fabio Degasperi from 100ONE Shop in Rovereto says: “The market potential in Italy for selling boardsportrelated product is great and there is plenty of opportunity, we just have too many young people who can´t afford the lifestyle and that gives our industry a hard time.” But this is more of an economical problem than something we can adjust ourselves. Being active as a storeowner has become another topic where a lot of stores put their focus on nowadays. Letting your customers interact with you on store events, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook has become a key factor in building a strong customer base. Also being truly passionate about what you sell is something money can´t buy and makes you stand out and customers really appreciate it. As product is present everywhere nowadays the ‘coolness’ of a store can make shopping an experience and customers appreciate that. When product in many stores becomes the same, you need to stand out, as limited edition product doesn’t always makes the difference if the customer is still asking for mainstream product. On the event side the Italian Skateboarding Championships will once again take place in Bolzano on the September 5-6, and will be supported by DVS Shoes as the main sponsor, an event which saw great success last year that will again attract the whole Italian skateboarding scene with a great get together. Summer is still in full swing so let´s get out and have some fun.
market intelligence
SWITZERLAND
AUSTRIA
By Fabien Grisel / David Lambert
By Anna Langer
Finally a proper summer. It’s been a long time since we had such great weather with the sun permanently fixed in the sky and an extended heatwave bringing that holiday feeling to our doorstep. People are living life outdoors and making the most of the lovely evenings. Unfortunately the spring wasn’t quite of the same calibre and, as we know very well, this period is crucial to the success of our retail commerce because this is when we sell equipment at full price and get proper margins. Basically the spring brought mixed fortunes with pretty good sales volumes and shop visits but a slightly reduced turnover - largely due to a drop in prices after unpegging the CHF from the Euro as discussed in previous articles. Suppliers requested this price reduction and it had an effect on the final sales price so obviously some profits were sacrificed in order to try to keep customers. This is an issue that Swiss retail commerce is faced with today, and probably will be for some time to come. However, it’s not the only problem to contend with. For products that are subject to obsolescence (streetwear, shoes, etc), it’s important to sell them before the sales periods, which, under pressure from the big chains, are taking place earlier and earlier so many people are finding it necessary to drop prices at the start of June even before the nice weather has arrived. Once again, lots of shorts, boardshorts and other tanks will sell well but at a good discount.. Don’t forget, Switzerland hasn’t had a strict legal framework since November 1995. There are no official dates set for Swiss retailers. The beginning and end of the sales periods go on for several weeks. Reductions vary between 50-70% from the first markdowns in city centre shops and on the Internet. Fortunately this does not concern all products; summer hardgoods for skateboarding and watersports for example can continue to sell at full price until the start of autumn and may even remain consistent all-year-round in some cases. This is where the lovely July weather is very helpful, especially for watersports, which are gaining considerable momentum. This includes a little bit of kitesurfing, a growing wakeboarding and wakesurfing market but most notably an explosion in inflatable Stand Up Paddle (the ‘hard’ SUP market only makes up around 20%) whose development seems surprisingly more rapid in French-speaking Switzerland than the German speaking parts where sales haven’t reached the same level. SUP retailers in French-speaking Switzerland are very happy because the purchase price remains high and the volumes are steadily increasing, having almost doubled in three years according to Yan Bosson from SB Sport in Gland. It is clear to see that this sport is becoming really popular on our lakes for both adults and kids with rental shacks popping up all over the place. Its popularity is such that even the big box stores want to ride the wave - if you excuse the pun - offering inflatable stand up paddles at very low prices within their range. For example, Migros offer a kit for about 399CHF but Specialists like SB Sport are not too worried The most prevalent brands are Hobie, RED and Nidecker. We can also note that the acceleration of this market has boosted the sales of related products, clothes and accessories such as swimwear, wetsuits, sunglasses and waterproof bags. To summarise, the watersports segment is now bringing a bit of respite to Swiss boardsports retailers whose summer season was becoming progressively trickier. 100
We’ve already mentioned that things work a bit differently in Austria compared to ‘big’ neighbours, and so a charitable event like Lake Of Charity in Saalbach Hinterglemm would probably not be possible anywhere else. A whole valley sticking together to organise a fun event for the whole family, including water slides, wakeboard winch and mini ramp to support a good cause. With lots of prizes to win too, amongst others vouchers and goodies from La Resistance Shop from close by Zell am See, that filled in spontaneously after a big online-shop dropped out of sponsoring. “Those are the little victories that make the whole thing worth it,” owner Peter smiles and reports an all in all positive but hard year so far. “Our scene is permanently being trampled on by big online shops. As one of the last few, albeit not the last, core shops in Austria, we’re still offering resistance – similar to David against Goliath or Asterix versus the Romans... Still our year developed nicely, as we remained true to ourselves and still have strong roots in the scene.” Something that is noticeable in the whole shop. “Small brands work a lot better than the big players, surely also because we’re behind that with all our hearts,” he explains and gives gypsy-skate label Woodybunch as example: “We like the stuff hence it quickly swaps owners.” And that works especially well, if the quantity is limited – contrary to all the strategies of many ‘big heads’. “Who wants to wear the same shirt as 50,000 other people these days? No one!” says Peter and adds: “It works even better for us because we only have a small amount of shirts that for example none of the big ones would ever buy.” That strategy even brought customers back, that were “lent out to online shops” for some time. Price dumping and other issues are known to the brands too, as Völkl manager for Austria, Hans Doblhammer, illustrates: “That is a very difficult topic that is not easy to judge either. But unfortunately the trigger really does come from the internet most of the time. If the current range of boards are discounted there, there’s not much left to do for stationary retailers, than follow somehow. And that continues to drop the prices.” But they can’t regulate prices either. “We do try to pay close attention to our selection of retailers and try to filter out those that have relatively consistent and transparent price policies. That’s the only possibility we have.” But he also sees another factor in product range and training of stationary shops. “At Völkl we see technology becoming more important again,” for end-consumers and retailers alike. Something shops can use to their advantage – if they have the knowledge, Hans says: “If a retailer is able to give a good detailed explanation for a technically advanced board, he has a big advantage as he can distinguish himself. That’s something you can’t do online, or at least not to the same extent.” And to be able to use that, the brand offers workshops at the retailers’ venues, to educate them and their employees. “Those who have a genuine interest gain a lot through that, that they can then pass on to the customers.” Those only concerned with prices, stocking up on cheap gear, will loose against those who back products of higher quality, he thinks. And Peter agrees: “If we can trust our bee experts, this will be a great winter especially for those, who are working sustainably and out of 100% conviction – not for the money. Quod eram demonstrandum!“
OPPORTUNITIES JOB OFFER GSM GERMANY RETAIL GMBH BILLABONG/ELEMENT/RVCA We are currently hiring for our HQ in Munich a:
Key Accounts Coordinator North Europe M/F
䄀刀䔀䄀 䴀䄀一䄀䜀䔀刀
Reference Number: 10082015
䌀䰀伀匀䤀一䜀 䐀䄀吀䔀
㈀ 倀伀匀䤀吀䤀伀一匀 䄀嘀䄀䤀䰀 䄀䈀䰀䔀 ⴀ 唀䬀 一伀刀吀䠀 䄀一䐀 唀䬀 匀伀唀吀䠀
㌀⼀ 㠀⼀㔀
倀刀䤀䴀䄀刀夀 倀唀刀倀伀匀䔀 伀䘀 倀伀匀䤀吀䤀伀一 吀漀 攀渀猀甀爀攀 琀 栀攀 搀攀氀椀瘀攀爀 礀 漀昀 攀砀挀攀瀀 琀椀漀渀愀氀 漀瀀攀爀愀琀椀漀渀愀氀 愀渀搀 挀漀洀洀攀爀挀椀愀氀 猀琀 愀渀搀愀爀搀猀 琀 栀爀漀甀最栀漀甀琀 猀琀 漀爀攀猀 椀渀 琀 栀攀 愀爀攀愀 愀渀搀 琀 漀 搀爀 椀瘀攀 猀愀氀攀猀 愀渀搀 瀀爀漀昀 椀琀 愀戀椀氀椀琀礀 琀 栀爀漀甀最栀 琀 栀攀 瀀攀爀 昀 漀爀 洀愀渀挀攀 愀渀搀 搀攀瘀攀氀漀瀀洀攀渀琀 漀昀 匀 琀 漀爀攀 䴀愀渀愀最攀爀猀⸀ 䬀䔀夀 刀䔀匀倀伀一匀䤀䈀䤀䰀䤀吀䤀䔀匀 ☀ 䐀唀吀䤀䔀匀 ∠ 吀漀 瀀爀漀ⴀ愀挀琀椀瘀攀氀礀 挀漀渀琀爀椀戀甀琀攀 琀漀 琀栀攀 爀攀琀愀椀氀 猀琀爀愀琀攀最礀 愀渀搀 椀洀瀀氀攀洀攀渀琀 瀀爀漀樀攀挀琀猀 愀渀搀 琀爀椀愀氀猀 昀漀爀 琀栀攀 䄀爀攀愀 ∠ 吀漀 猀甀瀀瀀漀爀 琀 琀栀攀 洀愀渀愀最攀洀攀渀琀 漀昀 挀甀猀琀漀洀攀爀 猀攀爀 瘀椀挀攀 愀渀搀 琀攀愀洀 洀攀洀戀攀爀 搀攀氀椀瘀攀爀 礀 猀漀 愀猀 琀漀 漀瀀琀椀洀椀猀攀 愀渀搀 猀甀猀琀愀椀渀 猀愀氀攀猀 瀀攀爀 昀漀爀洀愀渀挀攀 愀渀搀 挀甀猀琀漀洀攀爀 猀愀琀椀猀昀愀挀琀椀漀渀⸀ ∠ 吀漀 攀昀 昀攀挀琀椀瘀攀氀礀 洀愀渀愀最攀 猀瀀攀渀搀 眀椀琀栀椀渀 礀漀甀爀 愀爀攀愀 椀渀 漀爀搀攀爀 琀漀 攀渀猀甀爀攀 愀 瀀爀漀昀椀琀愀戀氀攀 瀀攀爀 昀漀爀洀愀渀挀攀⸀ ∠ 吀漀 攀渀猀甀爀攀 琀栀愀琀 愀氀氀 猀琀漀爀攀猀 愀搀栀攀爀攀 琀漀 爀攀焀甀椀爀攀洀攀渀琀猀 椀渀 愀氀氀 愀爀攀愀猀 漀昀 漀瀀攀爀愀琀椀漀渀愀氀 愀挀琀椀瘀椀琀礀Ⰰ 挀漀洀瀀愀渀礀 瀀漀氀椀挀椀攀猀 愀渀搀 瀀爀漀挀攀搀甀爀攀猀⸀ ∠ 吀漀 愀挀栀椀攀瘀攀 猀琀漀挀欀 挀漀渀琀爀漀氀 攀砀瀀攀挀琀愀琀椀漀渀猀 椀渀 氀椀渀攀 眀椀琀栀 挀漀洀瀀愀渀礀 最甀椀搀攀氀椀渀攀猀 琀漀 瀀爀攀瘀攀渀琀 昀椀渀愀渀挀椀愀氀 氀漀猀猀⸀ ∠ 吀漀 椀搀攀渀琀椀昀礀 甀渀搀攀爀ⴀ瀀攀爀 昀漀爀洀椀渀最 猀琀漀爀攀猀 愀渀搀 搀攀瘀攀氀漀瀀 愀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 瀀氀愀渀 琀漀 愀搀搀爀攀猀猀 愀渀搀 洀愀渀愀最攀 椀猀猀甀攀猀 攀昀 昀攀挀琀椀瘀攀氀礀⸀ ∠ 吀漀 攀渀猀甀爀攀 琀栀愀琀 琀栀攀 瘀椀猀甀愀氀 瀀爀攀猀攀渀琀愀琀椀漀渀 漀昀 愀氀氀 猀琀漀爀攀猀 爀攀瀀爀攀猀攀渀琀猀 琀栀攀 戀爀愀渀搀 椀洀愀最攀⸀ ∠ 吀漀 瀀氀愀渀 昀漀爀 猀甀挀挀攀猀猀椀漀渀 椀渀 琀栀攀 䄀爀攀愀 琀栀爀漀甀最栀 琀栀攀 椀搀攀渀琀椀昀椀挀愀琀椀漀渀 漀昀 椀渀搀椀瘀椀搀甀愀氀猀 眀椀琀栀 瀀漀琀攀渀琀椀愀氀 昀漀爀 搀攀瘀攀氀漀瀀洀攀渀琀 愀渀搀 最爀漀眀琀栀Ⰰ
倀䔀刀匀伀一䄀䰀 刀䔀儀唀䤀刀䔀䴀䔀一吀匀 䔀猀猀攀渀琀椀愀氀㨀 ∠ 䔀砀琀攀渀猀椀瘀攀 攀砀瀀攀爀椀攀渀挀攀 椀渀 愀 猀椀洀椀氀愀爀 爀漀氀攀 ⠀洀椀渀椀洀甀洀 ㈀ 礀攀愀爀猀⤀ ∠ 䄀渀 椀渀琀椀洀愀琀攀 欀渀漀眀氀攀搀最攀 漀昀 琀栀攀 爀攀琀愀椀氀 氀愀渀搀猀挀愀瀀攀Ⰰ 瀀爀攀昀攀爀愀戀氀礀 椀渀 琀栀攀 礀漀甀琀栀 愀渀搀 猀甀爀 昀⼀氀椀昀攀猀琀礀氀攀 猀攀最洀攀渀琀
Key Responsabilities : -
Key Accounts relationship :
• • • • • • • •
Provide high quality, professional and consistent service to our Key Accounts; Sales analysis & sales follow-up reports ; Stock analysis ; Monitor the merchandising plan;
Support with marketing campaigns; Support in selling Women/Kids categories for KA;
Collaborate in the staff training; Management of POS.
-
Back Office support :
• • • • •
Assist the Country Managers; Trade show support ; Showroom management (calendar) ; Samples management ; Different administrative tasks.
Skills :
∠ 䐀攀洀漀渀猀琀爀愀琀攀搀 攀砀瀀攀爀椀攀渀挀攀 椀渀 洀愀渀愀最椀渀最 洀甀氀琀椀ⴀ猀椀琀攀 漀瀀攀爀愀琀椀漀渀猀 ∠ 倀爀漀瘀攀渀 攀砀瀀攀爀椀攀渀挀攀 椀渀 氀攀愀搀椀渀最 愀渀搀 搀攀瘀攀氀漀瀀椀渀最 愀 瀀攀爀 昀漀爀洀愀渀挀攀 昀漀挀甀猀攀搀 琀攀愀洀
• • • • •
∠ 䠀漀氀搀猀 愀 挀氀攀愀渀 搀爀椀瘀椀渀最 氀椀挀攀渀挀攀 愀渀搀 椀猀 愀戀氀攀 琀漀 猀琀愀礀 漀瘀攀爀渀椀最栀琀 愀猀 愀渀搀 眀栀攀渀 爀攀焀甀椀爀攀搀
䬀攀礀 匀欀椀氀氀猀㨀 ∠ 䠀椀最栀氀礀 搀攀瘀攀氀漀瀀攀搀 椀渀琀攀爀瀀攀爀猀漀渀愀氀 猀欀椀氀氀猀 椀渀挀氀甀搀椀渀最 琀栀攀 愀戀椀氀椀琀礀 琀漀 挀漀愀挀栀 愀渀搀 氀攀愀搀 瀀攀漀瀀氀攀Ⰰ 愀渀搀 搀攀瘀攀氀漀瀀 愀 猀琀爀漀渀最 琀攀愀洀 挀甀氀琀甀爀攀 ∠ 伀甀琀猀琀愀渀搀椀渀最 挀漀洀洀甀渀椀挀愀琀椀漀渀 愀渀搀 椀渀昀氀甀攀渀挀椀渀最 猀欀椀氀氀猀 琀漀 搀攀愀氀 攀昀 昀攀挀琀椀瘀攀氀礀 眀椀琀栀 愀 戀爀漀愀搀 爀愀渀最攀
University diploma/College degree in Business Administration; Minimum 2 years of experience in sales in Action Sports/Lifestyle environment; Strong Excel knowledge ; Fluent in German and English, French is a plus; Based in Munich.
漀昀 椀渀琀攀爀渀愀氀 欀攀礀 瀀愀爀 琀椀攀猀 愀渀搀 攀砀琀攀爀渀愀氀 挀甀猀琀漀洀攀爀猀 ∠ 匀琀爀漀渀最 愀渀愀氀礀琀椀挀愀氀 猀欀椀氀氀猀 愀渀搀 挀漀洀洀攀爀挀椀愀氀 愀挀甀洀攀渀 琀漀 愀挀挀攀猀猀 愀渀搀 愀渀愀氀礀猀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀琀椀漀渀 愀渀搀 洀愀欀攀 猀漀甀渀搀 搀攀挀椀猀椀漀渀猀
Type of contract: Unlimited-in-time ; full-time.
∠ 䔀砀挀攀氀氀攀渀琀 瀀氀愀渀渀椀渀最 猀欀椀氀氀猀 愀渀搀 猀琀爀漀渀最 昀漀挀甀猀 漀渀 洀攀愀猀甀爀攀洀攀渀琀 愀渀搀 爀攀猀甀氀琀猀 ∠ 䌀愀瀀愀挀椀琀礀 琀漀 洀攀攀琀 琀椀最栀琀 搀攀愀搀氀椀渀攀猀 眀椀琀栀椀渀 愀 搀礀渀愀洀椀挀 攀渀瘀椀爀漀渀洀攀渀琀
Date of start : September 1st 2015.
∠ 䠀椀最栀氀礀 漀爀最愀渀椀猀攀搀 眀椀琀栀 琀栀攀 愀戀椀氀椀琀礀 琀漀 愀搀愀瀀琀 焀甀椀挀欀氀礀 琀漀 猀琀爀愀琀攀最椀挀 挀栀愀渀最攀
To apply please send your CV and Cover Letter to Poliana SILVA COUTO (p.silva-couto@billabong.fr) before August 22nd 2015.
䤀䘀 夀伀唀 䄀刀䔀 䤀一吀䔀刀䔀匀吀䔀䐀 䤀一 吀䠀䔀 倀伀匀䤀吀䤀伀一 倀䰀䔀䄀匀䔀 匀䔀一䐀 䄀一 唀倀 吀伀 䐀䄀吀䔀 䌀嘀 吀伀㨀
一䄀吀䄀匀䠀䄀 ⸀䜀刀䔀䜀伀刀夀䀀䜀匀䴀刀䔀吀䄀䤀䰀⸀䌀伀⸀唀䬀
GRAPHIC Designer
DIGITAL Designer location: Surfdome, london, UK
|
|
department: marketing
Type: Full Time
|
location: Surfdome, london, Uk
min. experience: Junior - mid level
THInK yOU GOT wHaT IT TaKeS?
min. experience: mid - Senior level
Here’s some more detail about what we’re looking for: - Ability to read and write HTML/CSS
- An imaginative designer that is able to deliver creative solutions within the brand guidlines for trend collections, campaign and promotions
- Strong knowledge in modern design software eg. Adobe creative suite, Github, S3 Amazon - Desire to work in a lean fast paced environment, operating under pressure working to tight and evolving deadlines.
- Able to multitask and liaise with other departments to co-ordinate and deliver designs within a fast paced environment, operating under pressure to tight and evolving deadlines.
- Discretion and integrity
What we offer is an environment that works hard and plays harder.
Come and #enjoytheride at Surfdome
We’re Europe’s largest and most influential online surf/skate/snow retailer and we bring together over 600 of the world’s leading action sports brands to inspire young-blooded individuals. We’ve joined forces with Surfstich Group and have operations in Australia, UK and USA with a global team of over 400, and one of the top 4 fastest growing companies in Australia.
We’re Europe’s largest and most influential online surf/skate/snow retailer and we bring together over 600 of the world’s leading action sports brands to inspire young-blooded individuals. We’ve joined forces with Surfstich Group and have operations in Australia, UK and USA with a global team of over 400, and one of the top 4 fastest growing companies in Australia.
HOw TO GeT In?
Surfdome.com 9th Floor, York House, Empire Way, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 0PA, UK
T. +44 (0)844 357 1022 E. shop@surfdome.com
- Discretion and integrity
Sure you are going to do heaps - Campaigns, Landing pages across UK and TLDS across Europe, EDMs, Banners, Ads etc and you will be making changes across the site daily, but then you’re not the kind of person who likes to be bored. Looking for a good environment? We have a great chill out area! Like Ping Pong? bring your skills. Need free coffee? Sure we can handle that. You’ll get an awesome staff discount. Like hanging out? So do we…. often.
Come and #enjoytheride at Surfdome
Send us your CV and tell us why the job is yours. Make sure you include a link to your digital folio.
- Able to work independently or as part of a team to deliver effective communications across a responsive website environment, mobile, email or print. - Strong knowledge in modern design software eg. Adobe creative suite, Github, S3 Amazon
What we offer is an environment that works hard and plays harder.
Sure you are going to do heaps - Campaigns, Landing pages across UK and TLDS across Europe, EDMs, Banners, Ads etc and you will be making changes across the site daily, but then you’re not the kind of person who likes to be bored. Looking for a good environment? We have a great chill out area! Like Ping Pong? bring your skills. Need free coffee? Sure we can handle that. You’ll get an awesome staff discount. Like hanging out? So do we…. often.
102
|
THInk yOU GOT wHaT IT TakeS?
Here’s some more detail about what we’re looking for:
- Strong understanding of current digital design and UX principles and trends.
Type: Full Time
If you want in, you’re going to need is an awesome energetic attitude, solid design & style skills and an understanding of HTML/CSS. You might have done the time to get a shiny tertiary certificate or cut your teeth on the job, regardless you have at least five years experience under your belt. You take feedback in your stride and you understand its about the team. You love working on a Mac and you can hold a conversation with that other breed that live on planet code. For you design is your life and you live and breathe the industry. As part of the design team you will be instrumental in shaping the look and feel of our visual strategy and be on point with seasonal trends.
If you want in, you’re going to need is an awesome energetic attitude, solid design & style skills and an understanding of HTML/CSS. You might have done the time or cut your teeth on the job, regardless you have a couple of years experience under your belt. You take feedback in your stride and you understand its about the team. You love working on a Mac and you can hold a conversation with that other breed that live on planet code. For you design is your life and you live and breathe digital. You love typography and pixel perfection is the only way.
- Experience designing for responsive websites, apps and mobile interfaces and email campaign content management systems
|
department: marketing
SURFdOme IS GROwInG and OUR CReaTIve Team needS a SeRIOUSly GOOd GRaPHIC deSIGneR wHO HaS a PaSSIOn FOR THe SURF, SkaTe and SnOw IndUSTRy.
SURFdOme IS GROwInG and OUR CReaTIve Team needS a SeRIOUSly GOOd dIGITal deSIGneR TO STeP UP TO THe PlaTe.
- Strong skills in digital design production for ecommerce, ideally in a retail environment
|
HOw TO GeT In? SURFSTITCH GROUP
Send us your CV and tell us why the job is yours. Make sure you include a link to your digital folio.
Surfdome.com 9th Floor, York House, Empire Way, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 0PA, UK
brought to you by Boardsport Source & ActionsportsJOB.com
T. +44 (0)844 357 1022 E. shop@surfdome.com
SURFSTITCH GROUP
OPPORTUNITIES
Distribution AD.pdf
1
brought to you by Boardsport Source & ActionsportsJOB.com
19/12/2014
16:58
103
E V E N T S # 78
SURF / SKATE / SNOW / SUP TRADE
SEPTEMBER
9-20 HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES SAN CLEMENTE USA SURF WWW.WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM 10-12 SURF EXPO ORLANDO USA SURF WWW.SURFEXPO.COM 12 VANS SHOP RIOT PORTUGAL SKATE WWW.VANSSHOPRIOT.COM 17-19 PADDLE EXPO NUREMBERG GERMANY TRADE WWW.PADDLEXPO.DE 19-20 VANS SHOP RIOT FINALS SPAIN SKATE WWW.VANSSHOPRIOT.COM 25-28 SILMO PARIS FRANCE TRADE WWW.SILMOPARIS.COM 22-28 CASCAIS WOMEN’S PRO CASCAIS PORTUGAL SURF WWW.WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM
OCTOBER
1-4 WOMEN IN BOARDSPORTS CONFERENCE BIARRITZ FRANCE SNOW WWW.WOMENINBOARDSPORTS.COM 2-4 CAPSULE WOMEN’S PARIS FRANCE TRADE WWW.CAPSULESHOW.COM 6-17 QUIKSILVER PRO LANDES FRANCE SURF WWW.WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM 8-9 SURF SUMMIT HOSSEGOR FRANCE SURF WWW.EUROSIMA.COM 9-11 KAUNERTAL OPENING AUSTRIA WWW.KAUNERTALER-GLETSCHER.AT 15-17 SNOWBOARD GARDEN FESTIVAL GRENOBLE FRANCE SNOW WWW.SNOWBOARDGARDENFESTIVAL.FR 16-18 MOREBOARDS STUBAI PREMIERE STUBAI AUSTRIA SNOW WWW.STUBAI-PREMIERE.COM 20-31 MOCHE RIPCURL PRO PENICHE PORTUGAL SURF WWW.WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM 30-1 SKI AND SNOWBOARD SHOW NORTH MANCHESTER UK SNOW WWW.SKIANDSNOWBOARDSHOW.CO.UK 29-1 SKIPASS MODENA ITALY SNOW WWW.SKIPASS.IT 30 - 1 SKIEXPO HELSINKI FINLAND SNOW WWW.SKIEXPO.FI
NOVEMBER 5-8 14 14- 16 21-4
SKI AND SNOWBOARD SHOW SOUTH LONDON FREEZE FESTIVALQUEEN ELIZABTH OLYMPIC PARK O’NEILL PLEASURE JAM – SCHLADMING DACHSHUN TARGET MAUI WOMEN’S PRO HAWAII
UK UK AUSTRIA USA
SNOW SNOW SNOW SURF
WWW.SKIANDSNOWBOARDSHOW.CO.UK WWW.FREEZEFESTIVAL.COM WWW.PLEASUREJAM.COM WWW.WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM
DECEMBER
4-5 AIR & STYLE BEIJING CHINA SNOW WWW.AIR-STYLE.COM 8-20 BILLABONG PIPE MASTERS OAHU HAWAII SURF WWW.WORLDSURFLEAGUE.COM 10-13 DEW TOUR BRECKENRIDGE USA SNOW WWW.DEWTOUR.COM 20 WORLD SNOWBOARD DAY WORLDWIDE SNOW WWW.WORLD-SNOWBOARD-DAY.COM
JANUARY
7-8 AGENDA LONG BEACH USA TRADE WWW.AGENDASHOW.COM 10-11 FUTURE TRY DAVOS SWISS TRADE WWW.SNOWBOARDBOX.CH 10-12 SNOW AVANT PREMIERE LAS CLUSAZ FRANCE TRADE WWW.SPORTAIR.FR 11-12 ANNECY SHOWROOM ANNECY FRANCE WWW.SPORTAIR.FR 18-24 LAAX OPEN LAAX SWISS SNOW WWW.LAAX.COM 19-21 BRIGHT BERLIN GERMANY TRADE WWW.BRIGHTTRADESHOW.COM 19-21 SLIDE TELFORD UK TRADE WWW.SLIDEUK.CO.UK 24-27 ISPO MUNICH GERMANY TRADE WWW.ISPO.COM 28-31 SIA DENVER, COLORADO USA TRADE WWW.SIASNOWSHOW.SNOWSPORTS.ORG 31-2 PRO SHOP TEST BARDONECCHIA ITALY TRADE WWW.SNOWSHOPTEST.COM
FEBRUARY
3-4 JACKET REQUIRED LONDON UK TRADE WWW.JACKET-REQUIRED.COM 5-6 AIR + STYLE INNSBRUCK AUSTRIA SNOW WWW.AIR-STYLE.COM 15-17 AGENDA LAS VEGAS USA TRADE WWW.AGENDASHOW.COM 20-21 AIR + STYLE LOS ANGELES USA SNOW WWW.AIR-STYLE.COM
104
ONE EYED MONSTER
#78
MUTE FILM PREMIERE, WASTED TALENT BOUTIQUE, HOSSEGOR
Kyle Lochhead, Ambassador of Fun regales rolling projection’s Tristian Sandbrook a funny tale
Mute European Film Premiere - Wasted Talent Boutique, Hossegor
Pro surfer and model Victoria Vergera and pro surfer Tristian Guilbaud
Andrea Tiling (K2 Ski) & Friend
A man and his Hammer! Wolfgang Buchwieser (Ride)
Andi Threimer (K2)
Brixton - Out of Step Agency’s Hannah with Brixton’s The Conway hat
Electric’s European Sales Manager Etienne Pinon holding their Bengal with added top wire for SS16
Globe’s Josh Barrow with the Tribe shirt
RVCA’s Matt Bryer with their Brush Black short sleeve shirts
Iron and Resin’s UK Account Manager Joe Scott with the Nationals jersey and the Rambler jacket
HUF - Out of Step Agency’s Adam Scotland wth the Pyramid logo tee and HUF’s fleece coach’s jacket
Lightning Bolt’s International Sales Manager for Europe, Sergio Santos with their cotton nylon boardshorts - either with, or without elastic waste.
Ally Barr showing Ridgemont Outfitters Monty and Outback shoes
Nixon are telling a road trip story from their HQ in Encinitas, California south to BAJA.
Etnies Country Manager Scott Wayman with the Jamieson vulc in Nick Garcia’s colourway and the high end skate performance shoe The Marana XT
Element’s Tony Wood (S.East England Sales Agent)
Deus ex Machina’s Joel Fairweather with the Surfing Cup tee and Tugu Banana boardshort
The exterior, with benches for visitors to eat and drink
Couches looking back to the main entrance as SFML’s Alex gives SOURCE’s Clive the lowdown
Shitfoot Mongoland, Core Skate Gathering Debuts In Berlin
DJ Clement Frossiart formerly of Concorde band
K2/RIDE EUROPEAN HQ RENOVATION PARTY
Muck Müller (munchie Konsilium) & Bene Heimstaedt (Pleasure Mag)
JACKET REQUIERED
SHITFOOT MONGOLAND
The popup skate ramp, built by organisers and anyone who had spare time earlier in the week
107
BRIGHT
108
Electric booth party - Electric’s Trade Marketing Manager Maite Duport and PR & Web Communications Manager Caroline Piechaud
Black Eye Lens’ Marketing Manager Joni Gramath, Partner Kalle Suhanen, Arto Ekman (CEO & Founder) and Sales Manager Matti Karjanlahti
Maui and Sons European Director Nuno Fonseca with the Madras boardshorts
DC - Dennis McGrath signing his new book HEAVEN
Zimtstern’s Rafael Knupp (Marketing) and Thomas ‘Lou’ Triet (CEO)
Vans turn 50 in 2016 and are rolling out the checkered line to celebrate
Vans - Pro Classics stronger than ever
The Hundred’s Patrick Hill (Creative Director) with the Cruiser Annorak
Templeton’s Klaus Zenker and Marinus Schuster with their pirate mascot
SEEK entrance from Bright
Neff’s Cope & International Marketing Manager Kirsten Taylor with the Simpsons collab
Kone of actionsportjob.com and one half of the happy Bright boys
Globe’s Marketing Manager Jessica Lanzi
Element’s VP Global Marketing Julien Duval repping the Westgate collab deck
Electric booth party - Bright’s Thomas Martini and DC’s Emmanuel Labadie
Electric - skate pro Madars Aps getting to grips with some Electric shades
DC’s Smoke On The Water skate event - the official Bright Opening party
DC - Dennis McGrath hanging some of his photography from his book HEAVEN on the walls
Circa’s EMEA Sales Director Peter Frericks
Bright’s new home on the River Spree
BAJA’s Heidi Sipla (Designer) and Janne Karjula (Founder) with the Baja Barbados Ecomex Pullover
Antonio Melero European Marketing Operations Manager for Sole Tech
Adrien Waller Brand Manager at Vissla in Europe
Dan Dougherty International sales director and Hanus from Horsefeathers