California Apparel News

The latest craze in the world of extreme sports is mixed martial arts, or MMA, which pits fighters of various disciplines together into a circular cage where they fight until someone goes down—or out. The made-for-TV sport has attracted a huge following, spawning reality TV shows, magazines and, of course, apparel. One Inland Empire, Calif., clothing company—TapouT—is at the center of it all.

The private company, based in the San Bernardino County suburb of Grand Terrace, has been around since 1997, but only recently has its business taken off. It started as a small garage-type operation by two security guards who were fans of cage fighting, popularized by the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) about 10 years ago. Unlike traditional boxing, where fighters wear heavyweight gloves, MMA and other cage-fighting events allow full-contact combat fighting techniques employing kicking, wrestling and throwing, as well as punching (with lightweight gloves).

TapouT has just launched the second season of its namesake reality show, which airs on the Versus cable network. In the show, TapouT staff go around the country looking for the best brawlers. The company recently expanded its headquarters from a small office of a few hundred square feet to a 40,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility featuring high-tech security equipment and plasma TV screens on almost every wall.

Coupled with its clothing line and other products, TapouT is on a pace to hit $100 million in sales in 2008, which would quadruple sales of about $25 million in 2007. For years, it was selling its clothing only through its Web site (www.tapout.com). It has since opened up distribution and sells to an account base of more than 6,000 stores, including Pacific Sunwear, Dillards, Tilly’s, Hot Topic and Champ’s/FootLocker.

Since it hit the big time with a TV show, TapouT’s clout has lured the likes of private-equity group PEMGroup, which extended the company a multi-million dollar credit line. TapouT has also signed with leading talent agent Creative Artists Agency to help promote the company. And former music-industry executive Marc Kreiner joined the company last fall as president to help manage daily business.

The company’s clothing business has also been aided by the acquisition of Hitman, a Huntington Beach, Calif.–based clothing maker.

In the apparel category, MMA has become a lifestyle as well as a fan draw.

“[TapouT] is the No. 1 company in mixed martial arts right now,” said Bob Maloney, president of San Jose, Calif.–based e-tailer FightRack Inc. “The apparel is doing very well and surprisingly it’s appealing to wide spectrum, though young men are probably the strongest category.”

Maloney said the TV show definitely helps. In the beginning, UFC and other MMA events were broadcast only via pay-per-view, but it has opened up to networks such as Spike TV and VS, which cater to males aged 18 to 34. During the course of the program, dozens of the company’s clothing designs get air time through product placements.

Like other subculture streetwear brands, TapouT features bold graphics with “horror” symbolism, such as bats and skulls, built around the company emblem. The line consists mostly of tees, tanks, caps and footwear that are priced to retail around $45.

“The TapouT phenomenon can’t be explained easily,” said company co-founder Charles Lewis, who goes by the name “Mask” on the TapouT television program. “TapouT is here to help bring the sport to its rightful place of world domination, and our products are just an extension of that.”

The sport of MMA itself has as grown to about 7 million participants in the United States, compared with 6.2 million in 2000, according to the Washington-based Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. U.S. wholesale sales, which included equipment and apparel, grew by 12 percent last year to $314 million.

In addition to TapouT, the UFC and the new Donald Trump–backed Affliction fighting organizations have also been the result of rising popularity.

The producers of the Action Sports Retailer Expo will add Virtue, a new show centered around MMA, Sept 4–6 in San Diego.

Lewis and co-founder Dan Caldwell, known as “Punkass” on the show, can be found wearing dramatic makeup and camouflage gear.

Caldwell said that fans and consumers like the fact that that everything is real. There are stories behind the label, and that’s attracting more people to the sport as well as to the lifestyle.

“MMA has exploded, and our crew has been there since the beginning, finding and supporting fighters,” he said. “TapouT shows viewers what goes down on the road and lets fans be a part of the action. There are unbelievable fighters with incredible stories.”

The company will show its latest apparel collection at the International Mixed Martial Arts Exhibition Aug. 1–3 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, Calif., and at the MAGIC Marketplace Aug. 25–27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas and at the new Virtue show Sept 4–6 at the Hard Rock hotel in San Diego.