The Australianhas a great Fred Pawle overview of all the dire news that’s been clogging the surf blogs lately, describing what could make September 2012 the worst month even in surf business ever.
The turbulence began on September 17, when news leaked that Rip Curl, the iconic multinational surf company founded in Torquay in 1969 and still mostly owned by surf buddies Brian Singer and Doug Warbrick, had been quietly placed on the market. Their subsequent press release gave only vague reasons for the sale. Requests from Inquirer for an interview were declined. . . Three days later, in a reflection of the business world’s appetite for equity in surf labels, one of two offers from venture capitalists for Billabong, the Gold Coast multinational struggling to pay off hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, was withdrawn. The other, from TPG, is half the value of a previous offer made earlier this year. . . On the same day, New York law firm Levi & Korsinsky announced it was investigating “compensation to certain executives” at Quiksilver, another Australian-born surf label, now listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Turns out that even though Quik’s loss increased from $9.68 million in 2010 to $21 million in 2011, CEO Bob McKnight’s salary increased from $2.91 million to over $10.2 million. We wouldn’t mind a 300% pay increase year over year, would you? Click the link for the rest.
It’s only the first official week of fall and water temps are still in the high 60s, but the chilly mornings make putting on some rubber essential. Patagonia’sR1Back-Zip Full Suit is the perfect thing for surfers wanting to stay warm without overheating.
Made using Patagonia’s high-density nitrogen cell structured 2 mm neoprene and lined in a bright green recycled polyester and nylon, the full suit is available for both men and women.
If a full suit isn’t your thing, the R1 series is rated for 65–75 degree water temps and comes in a variety of styles for those looking for a little less rubber. Click here to find a dealer near you.
See, Supra likes women. Really, regardless of what you may have heard they must or they wouldn’t have designed a new pink Skytop for women called the Pink Party Skytop in collaboration with Elyse Walker.
“Pink Party is a celebration of women, fashion, friendship, and life,” said Elyse Walker. “We are celebrating eight years of philanthropy supporting one of the premier medical and research centers in the world. It is without question that this year’s Pink Party will be bigger and better than ever.”
Turns out Bain Capital, the company co-founded by US Presidential bumbler Mitt Romney, is not interested in purchasing Billabong, according to a story last week in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Billabong said today the second party to make a takeover offer had now withdrawn from the formal process. . . The company’s shares slumped as much as 6.9 per cent after coming out of a trading halt this morning and were recently trading at $1.335, down 11 cents, or 7.6 per cent, well below the value of the offers.
But the most interesting comment cam from IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock.
‘‘They are a struggling retailer,’’ he said. ‘‘As a shareholder the only reason you would have been comfortable holding this stock was because it was under takeover offer. ‘‘I’m surprised it is only down seven per cent.’’
Maybe Billabong should swap out their “Life’s Better In Boardshorts” tagline for a new one: “We’re A Struggling Retailer.”
In an innovative twist, the latest surf video from Volcom strays far afield from the formulaic action sports film genre and into completely new, uncharted artistic waters. The “creative short film,” titled Obscurite, features a scared, frantic, confused yet well dressed blonde woman running from something that we never see. Directed and produced by artist Mike Aho the film includes absolutely no skateboarding, surfing, or snowboarding. How French.
[Editors’ Note: Sorry, apparently, this new “creative short” is not a surf video, and is, in fact, a fashion video which was not intended to feature any action sports at all. We apologize for this misunderstanding.]
The world’s largest snowboard company (Burton, duh) has partnered with the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. owned Pottery Barn Teen on an “an exclusive home collection” according to a story on Pymnts.com.
The new collection will be available through the PBteen catalog, e-commerce site PBteen.com and at the six PBteen stores beginning this September through the 2012 holiday season. . . The new Burton home collection includes bedding, lighting, lounge seating, wall décor and accessories for tweens and teens. The collection features patterns and prints inspired from Burton’s popular apparel line. Some highlights include: a quilt which is comprised of 12 t-shirt logos from Burton’s current and past seasons, as well as a duvet cover modeled after a Burton snowboard jacket with authentic details like zippers and pockets. The Burton home collection also includes wall murals featuring images of Burton Team Riders: Danny Davis, Gabi Viteri, Hannah Teter, Jussi Oksanen, and Nicolas Muller.
This stuff actually looks really good. If Pottery Barn is going to do snowboarding, they might as well do it right. Same for Burton.
Well, there goes the surf clothing industry. Rip Curl Group Pty. is now reportedly looking for someone who will trade them A$500 million for the brand, according to a story on Bloomberg Businessweek.
The closely held Australian company has hired Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit and is seeking about 10 times its projected A$48 million 2013 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, the person said, asking not to be identified before a public announcement by Rip Curl. Merrill Lynch is assessing “unsolicited approaches” for the company, Rip Curl said in a statement today.
Sound great. It’s such a sellers market in the surf fashion industry right now.
For as often as fashion designers have stolen from surf culture to style their “resort wear” we are never surprised by the way New York’s old media relates to it.
For instance, here is New York Times men’s fashion writers Bruce Pask and Jason Rider on the latest round of surf inspiration. This time from designer Robert Geller.
While surf as a fashion reference is quickly becoming as exhausted as heritage is, Robert Geller explored a darker twist on the theme, finding inspiration in the photographer Sarah Moon’s ominous depictions of beaches to create his latest collection. Wet suits are reimagined as black neoprene moto jackets and leggings; abstract brushstrokes take the place of Hawaiian prints; and slouchy shorts and sleeveless tops are offered in black, charcoal and navy, instead of sunny, oceanside colors. Where this urbanized surf idea works best is in the silhouette of a sheer knit over a tank top, tucked into pleated trousers and punctuated with slip-ons by a collaboration between Geller and Common Projects.
And then we vomited our Alejandro’s burrito (mixed with horchata) directly onto our clean, white Apple keyboard. Yep, surf’s up, bros.
“He’s A Chef” will be available on a limited edition 7″ as part of an apparel and accessories collaboration between Volcom Clothing and Yo Gabba Gabba. The 7″ that also features a collaboration between hip-hop/bizarro artist Biz Markie and Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne. It is being given away to 100 lucky winners here and will be available on September 21st at select Volcom retailers as a free gift when you purchase any of the collaborative products.
