Quiksilver Repositions Women's Brand, Outsources Design
The road for one of Quiksilver’s newest brands has been a circuitous one.
Quiksilver Women debuted in 2008 with a contemporary design aesthetic and contemporary price point. At the time, the only thing reminiscent of the beach was the label’s name and heritage.
Now, the company has enlisted POP Studio, the Culver City, Calif.–based design firm founded by Modern Amusement alum John Moore, to bring the brand closer to its surf roots. Replacing the more forward, trendy pieces of seasons past are simple, crisp beach-tinged designs and a new name for the brand.
It will be known as QSW, continuing to target better specialty and boutique stores but with friendlier young contemporary prices to make some of QSW’s offerings accessible to better surf/skate shops.
The evolution of the brand has been continual, said Steve Ellingson, QSW’s vice president of sales. Initially, Quiksilver Women was positioned as a brand for urban creatives. The brand enlisted bloggers, musicians and artists as muses and ambassadors. Along the way, Quiksilver tested a variety of fabrications and inspirations. Some seasons were decidedly more runway-inspired and heavy on luxe fabrications while others were more low-key.
“We were challenged on a number of fronts,” Ellingson said. Core retailers liked the collection but were resistant to the line’s price points, he acknowledged. Another sticking point was that the line’s fashion-forward styling appealed to better specialty retailers but didn’t speak to the brand’s heritage.
Quiksilver has been emphasizing its heritage across its brand roster—from the Quiksilver men’s collection and Roxy to the new Quiksilver Girls collection. Now it is applying that same focus to QSW. “We’ve gone from being more aggressive in our styling to being a modern, coastal classic,” Ellingson said. “We’re more connected to the ocean now.”
Kenna Florie, QSW’s vice president of sales and marketing, agreed. “There is a difference from our prior seasons. The [collection] is more understandable now, and our focus is making a young contemporary collection that reflects our brand heritage that feels ’coastal,’” she said.
The return to the beach also marks a potential shift in distribution. QSW—which will continue to target retailers such as American Rag, Atrium, Fred Segal and E Street Denim—will also be marketing to core and specialty retailers more keenly in upcoming seasons. “There is a need in the surf [market] for elevated product. They need to reach for a $300 jacket,” Ellingson said, to attract shoppers that are as likely to shop fast-fashion stores as better contemporary stores.
The first inkling of QSW’s ocean-minded new direction came in August, when the brand showed its Spring 2011 collection at the Class@ASR trade show in San Diego. Cotton dresses, tunics and breezy staples made up the bulk of the collection.
Fall 2011, the first collection under Moore’s direction, is the culmination of QSW’s return to the beach. The line, which wholesales for $16 to $147, incorporates silk blouses, sophisticated striped linen dresses, wool duffel coats and a leather moto jacket with more accessible pieces such as Tencel/silk-blend graphic T-shirts, marled Henley tops and sporty cotton beach shorts. Approximately 45 percent of QSW’s Fall offerings are at the brand’s opening price points, Ellingson said.
Moore, whose firm has designed the fledgling Quiksilver Girls line since its debut in 2010, said his goal for the QSW brand is to “tell authentic coastal stories.” For Fall 2011, Moore turned to San Francisco–based artist/surfer/retailer Serena Mitnik-Miller for inspiration.
Mitnik-Miller’s dreamy watercolors appear in the QSW collection on T-shirts, dresses and blouses. Some of her favorite vintage pieces, including cardigans, are re-created with a QSW twist in the Fall collection. Florie said she expects to see Mitnik-Miller’s influence extend to the Spring 2012 collection.—Erin Barajas
