by The Editors on June 1, 2018
Volcom has named long-time V-Co designer Jeffery James “JJ” Gonzales as their new global men’s design director.
“JJ has been a core member of the design team for years, developing and growing our bottoms business to be the industry leader, by far,” says Volcom CEO Todd Hymel. “He is a living and breathing embodiment of Volcom’s passion and dedication and I am excited for him to drive and elevate all of our efforts to bring a new level of creativity to our brand and product.”
For the official word from V-Co, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on May 8, 2018
Globe has appointed Eric Tomlinson as director of their North American Marketing team.
“We’re very excited to welcome Eric back,” said Gary Valentine, Chief Operating Officer, and President of Globe North America. “Eric is a multi-dimensional talent, that brings years of industry experience back to Globe and we’re stoked to have him driving our marketing efforts here in North America.”
Tomlinson was previously executive producer of content partnerships at Surline/Wavetrak, and before that served as Globe’s surf marketing manager. For the official word from Globe, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on April 30, 2018
More evidence that some brands never say die comes from a new collab between Maui & Sons and mall denim company American Eagle according to a story in Apparel News.
On June 1, the denim-focused American Eagle will debut a collaboration line, called American Eagle x Maui and Sons, with the heritage surf brand, said Blake Harrington, executive vice president of licensing and business development at Maui and Sons, headquartered in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. . . The collaboration line will be available exclusively at all American Eagle doors, which number more than 1,000 stores in North America, China and Hong Kong.
Seems like a really cheap way for American Eagle to get some quality retro, surf T-shirt graphics. Good on ya, zombies.
[Link: Apparel News]
by The Editors on April 24, 2018
Tuesday April 24, 2018 is the day that Boardriders, Inc. (Oaktree Capital’s action fashion brand holding company) officially takes the reigns at Billabong. The company has wasted no time waving bye-bye to Billabong’s board of directors and others including Neil Fiske, Peter Myers, Tracey Wood, Jim Howell, Mara Pagotto, and Paul Burdekin. But that list is sure to get much longer of the next few weeks. And presented their list of new “appointments.”
“Today marks the beginning of what will be a turning point for our industry,” said Dave Tanner, Chief Executive Officer of Boardriders Inc. “With the combination of Boardriders and Billabong, we bring together the best of both companies, creating a dynamic enterprise under the Boardriders umbrella.”
At least we can agree with Dave on the whole “turning point for our industry” thing. Which way its turning will be up for discussion for years. We are happy to say that we still know two people at the new mega corp. If you’d like to check the list for your friends, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on April 19, 2018

The Vans Park Series, arguably the best skateboarding contest series to be streamed online, is partnering up with ETN in an exclusive (yet free to all of us) deal for 2018.
The 2018 Vans Park Series Pro Tour will be broadcast live and for free on the ETN app, ETNlive.com, and vansparkseries.com. The new partnership will expand Vans Park Series’ global reach to inspire a diverse and engaging audience, from core skateboarding loyalists to an emerging mainstream skateboarding fan base worldwide. Download the ETN app or visit ETNlive.com for more information.
For all the details (and the complete Park Series schedule) please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on April 19, 2018

The annual skateboard industry conference hosted by the International Association of Skateboard Companies is getting a change up with year. Rather than a three day event that requires hotel rooms, travel, and more the IASC is breaking it up into one day events — quick and easy like. The first stop is May 3, 2018, but if you want to stick around there are still three days of fun.
Stop 1: Towne Park Brewery, Anaheim, California – May 3rd. The kick-off Summit Series will be in conjunction with the Skateboarding Hall of Fame and Icons Awards Ceremony that will be held on May 4th. Also, join us at the Vans Pool Party on May 5th. Tickets start at just $150 for IASC members and $200 for non-members until April 20th. Every attendee gets 10% off admission to the Skateboarding Hall of Fame Ceremony and the first 50 tickets come with passes to the Vans Pool Party!
For all the details, including a speaker list and how you can get tickets, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on April 12, 2018
We talked about this a while ago (November 1, 2017 to be exact), but it appears that the day of Kering’s off-loading of Volcom has officially arrived, according to a story on SGB Media.
“In accordance with Kering’s strategy to fully dedicate itself to the development of its luxury houses, Volcom no longer constitutes a core asset and Kering has initiated a disposal process,” the group said in a statement.
Disposal process? Wow. Kering bought Volcom in 2011 for $608 million will Wooly buy it back for $200 million? Could this happen, (please)? We’ll all just have to wait and see.
[Link: SGB Media]
by The Editors on April 9, 2018

Ever launch a brand that functionally went out of business years ago? Not to worry. Brand licensing wizards will resurrect your brand over and over and over again to keep those checks rolling in. The most recent example of brand reanimation is this — Airwalk for Aéropostale.
Airwalk for Aéropostale launches online and in stores on April 8th. The exclusive Men’s capsule will launch with an 8-piece apparel collection with key styles including color block and printed board shorts as well as graphic tees, just in time for Spring Break! The exclusive collection will range from $25 to $45.
Dive in kids. We’re not really sure what Aérosostale is, but it’s the 90s all over again and it’s on sale today.
by The Editors on March 28, 2018
It’s official, last night (March 27, 2018) 95.45 percent of Billabong’s shareholders voted to sell the company to Boardriders (the parent company of Quiksilver, DC Shoes, et. al.) for $1.05 a share according to a story in the Daily Telegraph.
The successful offer represented a 35 per cent premium on Billabong’s closing price the day before Boardrider’s proposal was first announced in January. . . Boardriders chief executive Dave Tanner said the deal offered the best value for shareholders, employees, vendors and customers. . . “We are pleased to see that the Billabong shareholders recognised this value, and have approved the proposed acquisition,” Mr Tanner said. . . “We have now cleared a significant milestone, and we are one step closer to creating the world’s leading action sports company.”
So finally Billabong and Quiksilver are nestled together in the loving arms of Oak Tree Capital. What does this mean? Not a whole lot to anyone not financially involved in the deal.
[Link: Daily Telegraph]
by The Editors on February 22, 2018

Urban sneaker streetwear music fashion website Hypebeast has reportedly purchased a majority stake in what remains of Steve Berra and Eric Koston’s The Berrics business, according to a story on Techcrunch.com.
Now, The Berrics is being acquired by Hypebeast and they’re forming a new company “The Berrics Company”, with the express mission of making sure the particular spirit that it was founded to foster in skating never dies. Hypebeast is putting in $750k and ending up with 51% of The Berrics and a majority of board seats. The Berrics will contribute its approximate $2.5M in assets, $1M in liabilities and a board seat. Hypebeast has been on a bit of a tear on the markets, with genuinely solid increases in revenue and profits over the past year, so this seems like a smart small acquisition for the company.
We haven’t paid that much attention to The Berrics since they killed off The Skateboard Mag, but this sounds like one more circuit in their downward spiral. Obviously, Hypebeast founder Kevin Ma (above center) does not agree.
[Link: TechCrunch via SkateDaily]