Surfwear Company Catches Another Wave
After a year slugging it out in the surf market, Monument Clothing Inc. is finally making a name for itself as a better boutique brand.
Launched by designer Dave Matt, professional surfer Shane Beschen and apparel sales rep Clay Gallagher, the Costa Mesa, Calif.–based label promotes better menswear with a beach lifestyle sensibility alongside contemporary men’s brands such as Stussy, Modern Amusement and RVCA.
Monument Clothing is eager to move toward the high-end men’s market with an eye for fine fabrics and high-tech details. Several action-sports retailers have said they are infusing young contemporary styles into their merchandise mix.
“Retail is going more high-end by taking the surf dog two steps up and bridging the gap between action sports and contemporary,” explained Billy Stade, owner of The Closet, a three-store specialty chain in California’s Orange County that carries boutique men’s lines such as Howe, Stussy, RVCA, Triple Five Soul, Travata and RIV.
The Monument Clothing trio works out of a 1,500-squarefoot warehouse in the industrial quarter of Costa Mesa’s West side. The building’s deacute;cor—which includes oversize Monument Clothing flags with images of a surfer catching air on the ultimate wave underneath a web of barbed-wire graphics—exemplifies the rebellious attitude of the company’s founders.
Their ethos, “Push to Turn,” underscores their aim to push the envelope with the company’s unique brand of surf-fashion fusion. “We recognize who our customer is, and it’s a 16-year-old surfer who wants to buy something that’s different than his classmates,” explained Matt, whose work space boasts a largerthan- life acrylic portrait of Ronald Reagan, a gift from an artist friend. “We want to help bring the boutique into the surf shop.”
Cutting-edge art and graphics propel the line, which serves up a youthful attitude with engineered denim, brushed-canvas walking shorts, two-way stretch-nylon boardshorts and short-sleeved button-up woven shirts. Cotton jersey T-shirts are screen-printed, embroidered and screen-printed again, typifying the line’s edgy vibe. Contractors in Los Angeles and Orange counties perform most aspects of the line’s production.
Novelty touches include logo screen prints on pants and dress shirts, back-pocket stitch details, and micro-fiber pocket linings with piping inside the waistband.
With wholesale price points ranging from $9.50 for a screen-printed T-shirt to $39 for modified denim, the line is currently carried by retail stores ranging from action-sports specialty chains to high-end boutiques, including ZJ Boarding House, Ron Jon Surf Shop, K-Five, Black + Blue and Ron Herman Melrose.
The label, which reached a sales volume of more than $500,000 in its first year, is on track to earn sales of $1 million next year, Matt said.
Pursuing a high-end customer is part of the company’s mission. Although Monument Clothing does not downplay its surf roots, the fledgling apparel company says it faces some of the same challenges as other better men’s brands looking to break into the high-end market.
“We realize that if we created basic surfwear pieces, we wouldn’t be able to compete with some of those larger brands like Quiksilver, Billabong and Hurley [International],” Matt explained. “But we also know how difficult it is to get into the same specialty stores as some of the better menswear labels like Ben Sherman and Diesel.”
Monument Clothing is steadily working toward expanding its customer base abroad. Earlier this year, the company entered into distribution agreements with Ka Nalu SAS in Hossegor, France, and Stoke Co. in Shonan, Japan.
For more information on Monument Clothing, call (949) 548-1140.
