by The Editors on June 2, 2008
Sole Technology, Podium Distribution, and C1RCA have all decided that the fall ASR Show is irrelevant to their businesses and have announced that they will not be showing, according to a story on Transworld Business.
Sole Technology Senior VP of Marketing Don Brown says this is a move his company has been contemplating for quite some time. “We really just wanted to be more proactive in reaching out to our retailers and really engaging them in a way that we can’t at ASR,” Brown says. . . . In lieu of the September show, Sole Tech will be focusing its energy—and its half-a-million-dollar budget—on smaller regional shows, as well as having retailers visit the Sole Tech campus in Lake Forest, California.
In a digital world, buying a bunch of space for your employees to sit around in for three days just doesn’t seem as sexy as it used to.
[Link: Transworld Business]
by The Editors on June 2, 2008
According to a story on Forbes.com:
Shares of Quiksilver Inc. ticked higher on Monday, as an analyst predicted the outdoor apparel and equipment maker will report strong revenue when it releases its second-quarter earnings on Thursday. . . . The company is attempting to focus on its Quiksilver, Roxy and DC apparel and footwear brands and shed its equipment units, including French ski maker Rossignol, which Quiksilver acquired in 2005.
We’re going to guess that news won’t be that great. . . but what do we know.
[Link: Forbes.com]
by The Editors on June 2, 2008
Billabong’s second annual fashion show Design For Humanity at LA’s Avalon/Spider Club on June 4, 2008 is sold out. Which means that unless you know someone (or have tickets) you’re not going to see a bunch of white-hot bikini models strutting to the sounds of DJ Steve Aoki.
Design for Humanity is Billagon’s charitable initiative. It began as an opportunity for Billabong’s marketing, art, and design teams to come together and give back to a non-profit close to the heart of our industry.
This year the money raised is going to the Surfrider Foundation. We wonder why they don’t just call it Hot girls Loosen Wallets.
[Link: Design For Humanity]
by The Editors on June 2, 2008
According to the style mavens at the Houston Chronicle, skate fashion is all about feeling comfortable.
Skateboard fashion doesn’t match what’s happening in fashion really,” Strane said. “It breaks the rules.” . . . The sport pushes color combinations to the edge. Vans, for example, offers a high-top sneaker with a different color on each side of the shoe. T-shirts by Rvca and Volcom are hugely popular for their bright graphic prints and soft, thin fabrics.
Ah, so that’s what this is all about.
[Link: Chron.com]
by The Editors on May 30, 2008
First it’s the K2 binding recall and now this.
[Link: Adio Footwear]
by The Editors on May 30, 2008
After some “accounting irregularities” were discovered Darren Spurling, the managing director of Blacks Leisure‘s Sandcity division (sole distributor of O’Neill clothing in the UK) was fired.
Spurling had been suspended since March, when Blacks announced that Sandcity’s profits had been overstated by £1m in the last financial year and a further £1m since then. He leaves without a payoff. It is understood that the police are not involved. “There’s no suggestion of fraud and no cash left the business,” said a spokesman.
[Link: The Guardian]
by The Editors on May 16, 2008
Da Hui in the Fashion & Style section of the New York Times. Read the story of Fast Eddy and da boys, one more time. This time from a fashion industry angle.
With annual sales of roughly $2 million, the privately held Da Hui is a flyspeck in comparison with mass-market behemoths like Billabong or Quiksilver. But the appeal of the label — now sold at surf shops in 19 states and 12 countries — is that its black boardshorts and no-frills logos both bypass the sport’s floral sartorial clichés and also, for those in the know, summon up a hard-core, roots surfer image of riders like those Da Hui underwrites.
For the rest of the story, click the link.
[Link: New York Times]
by The Editors on May 8, 2008
In a shockingly silly legal maneuver ESPN has apparently sued Quiksilver in federal court over an “X” the clothing company has used that looks similar to the ESPN X Games logo.
Quiksilver uses a stylized “X” emblem on clothing, labels and accessories that is “confusingly similar” to ESPN’s logo for the series of surfing and biking contests, according to the lawsuit filed this month in federal court in New York.
“Despite protests by ESPN, Quiksilver has since willfully expanded the use of the infringing mark, and Quiksilver’s apparel and accessories are now replete with the infringing mark,” the suit alleges.
Seems like there would be an easier way to get Quik to advertise, doesn’t it?
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on May 7, 2008
According to Forbes.com :
Zumiez Inc. late Wednesday said same-store sales rose 4.1% in April, topping the average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Financial for an increase 2.3% for the month.
Total sales at the Everett, Wash., action sorts retailer rose 20% to $24.2 million from last year’s total.
The stock closed the regular session at $20.38, down 2.6%.
[Link: Forbes]
by The Editors on May 7, 2008
Hard to believe this is a first, but Oakley is claiming it pretty hard. Enduring is their new line of “sport performance sunglasses made exclusively for women.”
Created in collaboration with the company’s top female athletes, ENDURING™ addresses all the performance needs of today’s woman while giving her the style of a freshly original, uniquely feminine design.
“Oakley ENDURING™ bridges the gap between form and function to offer female athletes the performance, protection and fit they need, and the style they deserve,” said Colin Baden, president of the company. “Oakley evolved in the world of action sports, serving the uncompromising demands of world-class athletes. Our impressive roster of female athletes gave us a wealth of insight into the wants and needs of today’s active woman. We applied this insight and the knowledge that came from decades of optical innovation to create a world first, the only sport performance eyewear truly made for women.”
Apparently, no one has ever made Oakley sport performance glasses for women before and it’s about time. Apparently, old-school, mini-truck driving girls need performance eyewear, too.
[click to continue…]
