Sundek Returns to the West
Surf brand Sundek is back in California after years away from its West Coast roots.
Founded in San Francisco in 1958, the company is now owned by an Italian investment firm that recently moved the company to Southern California after two years in New York.
New Chief Executive Officer Agostino Magni has hardly had time to settle into the brand’s new home, located a few blocks from the beach on Santa Monica, Calif.’s Main Street. Instead, he’s been on a whirlwind international tour of apparel trade shows, including Pitti Uomo in Florence, Premium Exhibitions in Berlin, ENK NYC in New York, the Chicago Collective in Chicago, and Project show and ENK Vegas in Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas, Sundek shows its core collection at ENK Vegas and its new menswear partnership with designer Neil Barrett at Project. The Barrett partnership is planned for four seasons, and first shipments begin in November. The Neil Barrett for Sundek collection infuses Sundek’s signature surf style with quirky details such as a trompe l’oeil print of sunglasses peaking out of a boardshort pocket or hanging from the collar of a V-neck shirt. There are camouflage-print boardshorts and chalk-stripe windbreakers.
With the move to Santa Monica, Sundek hopes to capitalize on the label’s history—from its California roots to its European pedigree.
“In Europe, if you want to be cool on the beach, you wear Sundek,” said Magni, standing in the brand’s new headquarters, a loft-like raw space filled with half-filled racks of boardshorts and T-shirts. Half of the line is still in transit from Chicago before heading to Las Vegas. In the corner is a stack of unopened boxes that contain Sundek-branded surfboards, which will be given to local surfers.
“People my age and older than me recall Sundek from the ’70s and ’80s,” Magni said. “In Italy, Sundek represents California surf culture and the American dream. To this company, L.A. offers much more opportunities—all the dudes are here.”
Central to the Sundek brand is the boardshort, which Magni describes as the “signature piece” of the line.
“We went into the archive and pulled out the original designs from the ’70s,” Magni said, adding that styles were updated for a modern surfer—including adjusting the shorts to the longer length favored by American consumers.
“For surf, here in the U.S. everyone wears very long shorts,” he said. “In Europe everybody wears 14-inch [boardshorts].” For the American consumer, the company split the difference and settled on a 17-inch style.
Wholesale priced at $48, boardshorts will come in 75 colors per season, including 14 core colors year-round. And the brand’s signature rainbow stripe is back, as well. According to Magni, the brand has held a patent for the stripe since the ’70s.
The boardshorts are made with a quick-dry nylon manufactured by the same Korean mill that has been producing Sundek’s fabrics since the beginning, according to Magni.
In addition, the company found a mill in Turkey that could reproduce a fleece fabrication from the original line. With the appearance of a brushed French terry, the fleece has the super-soft feel of a well-washed favorite sweatshirt.
Like the men’s line, Sundek’s women’s collection features boardshorts, T-shirts and fleece. A bikini collection is in the works.
In its new incarnation, Sundek trades on its surf legacy but is going after a more fashion-forward clientele.
In California, Sundek sells at specialty stores Kitson, Ron Robinson at Fred Segal and Elyse Walker, as well as at Saks and Bloomingdale’s. Nationally, the line sells at upscale stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and Atrium.
“We’re trying to connect the brand to the philosophy of surf,” Magni said. “We are back, and we want to be back strong.”
For more information about Sundek, visit www.sundek.us.
