This Thursday, January 5, 2012, the action sports and street wear industries will gather in Long Beach, California for the January Agenda Show. For longtime industry heads this is a return to the Long Beach Convention Center after a eight-year absence and from the look of the list of the over 400 companies who will be exhibiting it’s going to be just like old times only better.
The message boards have been packed with this news for months, but yesterday (January 2, 2012) DC Shoes officially announced that they had made two “massive additions” to their skate program with Mike Mo Capaldi (formerly of Lakai) and Nyjah Huston (footwear free agent).
As usual, this announcement was followed by a flurry of comments from industry insiders and skate kids who don’t believe the publicly traded Quiksilver has skateboarding’s best interest in mind when it signs up major players.
One long-time skate industry head said:
Again skateboarders have sold themselves to a corporate giant who doesn’t care about skateboarding, just money. Happy 4 the skaters, though.
Another fired back:
. . . as long as that company funds skateparks, pays skaters well, makes cool videos and puts on cool events I’m backin’ it.
The first replied:
I know. Getting harder to hate buying credibility. I know it’s not rational but stills feel weird. Happy for skaters though.
Before getting all emotionally involved just remember: skateboarding and skateboarders are just the little donkeys who help drag the footwear marketing machine to the masses.
Sole Tech/etnies has lost another one as 2011 Street League champ Sean Malto officially moves over to Nike SB. Says Malto:
“I’ve always been a fan of Eric Koston and Paul Rodriguez. Being on the same team as them is truly amazing. Plus, Nike has always been the leading brand in sports, with the most incredible athletes past and present—including my favorites Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant. It’s just an honor to be associated with a company like Nike. I feel like we can do awesome things in and for skateboarding!”
Funny how long it takes for the rumors to be official. Guess all these contracts are on the calendar year. Follow the jump for the official word from Nike. [click to continue…]
The good news is there appears to be a floor stopping Billabong’s two-day free fall. Yes, on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 shares bounced up 10.16 percent to close at $1.95, according to a story on Business Spectator.
Surfwear retailer and manufacturer Billabong International Ltd has lifted over 10 per cent, clawing back some of its massive losses from earlier in the week.
And though it’s not exactly back in solid terrain, at least the stock didn’t fall below a dollar. That may be thanks to IOOF Holdings 1.1 million share purchase on Monday, December 19, 2011.
When we think of hard-charging snowboard boarder cross racers bumping and hopping down an icy race course, we don’t exactly think L.L. Bean. But it appears the Maine based maker of all things classically backwoodsy is trying to change that by signing up two-time Olympic Gold medalist Seth Wescott as a “brand ambassador.” Apparently:
“Seth and L.L.Bean share many of the same values – a love and respect of the outdoors and a passion to educate and inspire youth to enjoy the outdoors,” said Steve Fuller, L.L.Bean Chief Marketing Officer. “He will be a great brand ambassador both here in Maine and around the world.”
The deal is for three years. It would be kind of epic to see Seth flying down a world cup BX course in this. Follow the jump for the official word. [click to continue…]
Good news for fan of the Vans waffle sole iPhone 4 case that’s been showing upall overthe web lately. According to inside sources it’s the real deal. It’s ready for an official launch in mid-2012. Our source went on to say that a few select Vans stores will have them during the Holidays and they may be available in the Vans.com store. If you want one stay on it, they’re already showing up on ebay.
And yes, we’ll let you know if one magically shows up here. Don’t think we didn’t ask.
Her royal hotness Gisele Bundchen is staring in a new series of ads for designer label Givenchy. In the ads, she and two pouty bros appear rather miffed to be stuck on a stormy beach with surfboards, but no boardshorts nor bikinis. Here are the details from Fashionista.
Like the Versace ads, these were also shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, and they show off Riccardo Tisci’s goth asesthetic perfectly. The beach, usually a sunny and joyful place, gets dark and stormy in Tisci’s hands.
If Gisele wants to surf, guess she’s going to have to paddle out in her undress.
On November 25, 2011, when we linked a story saying that Billabong’s stock had “mysteriously” dropped 12.5 percent in one of the busiest days of Billabong stock trading all fall, one of our commenters speculated the following: “Insider trading. Someone’s gotta know something.”
Oddly, today, December 19, 2011 saw Billabong stock fall 44 percent (to a record low) after the company reported that “sales growth had ‘deteriorated significantly'” in the pre Christmas months “as fears of global recession undermined consumer confidence,” according to a story in The Australian.
Billabong has forecast earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of between $70 million and $75m for the first half of the financial year, down from $94.6m in the previous comparable period. . . The company also said the “poor macroeconomic and trading environment” meant it was unable to provide any forecast for the rest of the financial year, but noted “strong underlying EBITDA growth compared to the previous comparable period in constant currency terms for the full year is not expected”.
Those people who got out three weeks ago must simply be blessed with perfect timing. Unfortunately, founder Gordon Merchant, Billabong’s largest shareholder, was not one of them. His fortune took a reported $78 million fall today, at least on paper. For more Billabong’s current financial situation check out the Wall Street Journal.
“Amer Sports is filled with people who skate, surf and snowboard, and we’ve got great brands with Salomon Snowboards, Bonfire and now, Nikita,” said Brad Steward,Head of Action Sports at Amer. “Nikita will give us a broader portfolio in the area of Action Sports, complementing Salomon snowboards and Bonfire. Amer now has a platform to grow with new consumer groups and bring a broader range of exciting, authentic products to market”.
Nikita Co-Founder Heida Birgitsdottir seems happy about the deal. “We are all really pleased to work with a company that can give our brand and our customers a solid base. As the Head of Design, I’m excited to see what we can create with Amer Sports’ support.”
For the rest of the story, follow the jump[click to continue…]
