California Apparel News

ORLANDO, Fla.—The skies were clear in Orlando, Fla., during the Jan. 13–15 run of Surf Expo at the Orange County Convention Center, but inside the convention hall, snow was definitely in the forecast.

Snow, the newest category to be added to the show, featured snow-inspired lifestyle apparel, snowboards, gear and accessories.

“It was a natural addition to the show,” said Dan Darby, Surf Expo’s marketing director. Many of the show’s exhibitors already offered some snow apparel and gear, he said. “The crossover was there, so it seemed like a good opportunity to give retailers the chance to preview or buy snow-inspired apparel.” In total, 42 companies showed snow-related goods.

The Snow category occupied 3,000 square feet and was nestled with the high-traffic Surf and Skate categories. To make the snowboarders feel at home, organizers added the “Surf Expo Snow Den,” an area equipped with couches, flat-screen televisions flickering with extreme snowboarding highlights and a snowboarding video game for boarders to test their mettle.

The show featured seven product categories in addition to Snow, including surf and skate gear and apparel for men and women, resortwear, high-end resortwear, accessories, souvenirs, swimwear and juniors lifestyle apparel.

Produced by Atlanta-based DMG World Media, the three-day event attracted about 1,200 exhibitors, who occupied 2,400 booths. Attendance was nearly identical to the same show last year, with 7,500 buyers and roughly 15,000 attendees. This year, Surf Expo was held concurrently with the International Builders’ Show, which usually attracts about 100,000 people, Darby said. The glut of convention-goers filled hotels and snarled traffic. In light of the difficulty attendees had reaching the show, Darby said Surf Expo organizers were proud of the show’s steady attendance. In the future, Surf Expo will not be held at the same time as the builders’ show.

Among the attendees were buyers from Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Birthday Suits of North Carolina’s Outer Bank, ZJ Boarding House of Santa Monica, Calif., and Makin Waves from Hamilton, Bermuda.Attendees at the Surf Expo show in September will be treated to a new category, called Brand New. The section will offer free booth space and the opportunity for exposure to select new and up-and-coming brands.The category will be juried by the Board Retailers Association.

Early birds

This edition, Surf Expo was held prior to the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego, and the show served as a testing ground for a few companies who offered a preview of their Fall 2006 styles. Bryce Cole, design director at Irvine, Calif.–based Redsand, said the company hustled to bring its Fall 2006 collection to the show. “It’s always good to bring Fall to this show,” he said. “Everyone wants to see a preview, and it helps us know what our winners might be.”

Redsand’s Fall collection is vintage-inspired, rendered mainly in earthy brown, charcoal, navy, plum and green tones. Camouflage, one of the prominent trends at the show, plays a big role in the line. Also for Fall were thermals with subtle dye treatments and long walking shorts fashioned from suiting material.

Redsand also showed a preview of its latest endeavor—a boys’ line set to debut in Fall 2006. “It’s a big deal for us,” Cole said. The line was built on the best sellers from the men’s line. “The boys’ line is a little more narrow than the men’s—we’re focusing our efforts in one direction,” he said, noting that the response from retailers has been good.

Globe and Gallaz, the El Segundo, Calif.–based apparel and shoe lines of Australian manufacturer and distributor Globe International, showed their Fall/Back-to-School lines to good reviews. Gallaz, the skate-inspired lifestyle brand for girls, played with proportion and showed long shorts and cropped pants. Chunky sweaters featured soft colors, long sleeves and short bodies. The military theme that was so prevalent at the show was present in the form of shrunken plaid jackets printed with camouflage, ruffled miniskirts laden with zippers and raw edges, and cropped, quilted jackets in army green.

Retailers, according to several exhibitors, were asking for Fall offerings and looking to get a jump on their buying. La Jolla, Calif.–based Surf Diva, which was showing its Spring/Summer 2006 apparel, fielded requests from buyers for Fall. The brand, which launched a complete apparel collection at ASR in September, sated requests for Fall with a collection of black-and-white apparel that included a white cotton wrap skirt emblazoned with a black printed pineapple. “It’s been a great show,” owner Coco Tihanyi said. Denim, hoodies and camouflage items were hot at the booth, as were the brand’s swimsuits for surf chicks.

Other manufacturers took Spring or Summer looks to Surf Expo, including Op, Spy Optic, Obey, Roxy and Billabong.

Some brands, including Roxy, Costa Mesa, Calif.–based Paul Frank Industries and Irvine, Calif.–based Ambiguous, were waiting for ASR or MAGIC in February to debut their Fall fashions. A representative at Paul Frank hinted that the company may take a new direction with its Fall collection, which will debut in February.

Jon Francis, marketing director at Ambiguous, said the company would be debuting its Fall collection, as well as a new booth, at ASR. The new Fall collection, which will feature a “dirty-glam” aesthetic, was made possible by Ambiguous’ new parent company, Irvine, Calif.–based Rays Apparel.

New lines and looks

Skate rats packed into the Z-Boy booth to see the new line of old-school sneakers and T-shirts created in 2005 by Los Angeles–based skate legend Nathan Pratt. Slim-fitting T-shirts and sleek screen-printed sneakers and slip-ons for men and women in cotton, leather and suede captured the free-wheeling ’70s vibe. “It was a great show for us,” Pratt said, noting that the line’s shoes had only hit stores in November.

The line, which is selling in core skate shops as well as specialty retailers like American Rag in Los Angeles and True in San Francisco, has a wide appeal. T-shirts with art by members of the original Z-Boys skate crew wholesale for $12.50–$15. The line’s shoes wholesale for $25–$55. A line of limited-edition shoes with a higher price point is in the works for Holiday, Pratt said.

Soundgirl, a year-old music- and streetwear-inspired lifestyle line, drew an array of buyers from core shops and boutiques. “We’re a crossover brand,” Suzy Policarpio said of the New York–based company, which, she said, doesn’t believe in titles for employees. “We have a street vibe with a young contemporary feel.”

Currently sold mainly in core shops, the line was looking to land accounts with beach boutiques. The company showed screen-printed T-shirts, polka-dot cotton shifts, denim jumpers and cropped jeans. Wholesale price points for the line range from $14–$36 for T-shirts, dresses and fashion tops.

Scouting for Summer

Buyer Stefanie Scala from Beachside Variety in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, loved Soundgirl’s tops and prints. “It was really cute and sweet,” Scala said. She was also on the lookout for swimsuits, boardshorts and jewelry to stock her shelves.

Jill Bennett, owner of the four Birthday Suits shops in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, found several new lines to love. “I was buying for Summer deliveries and looking for new trends to complement the mix I’ve already purchased,” Bennett said. “I found quite a few new lines and lines that were new to me.”

Nick and Mo, a year-old Baldwin Park, Calif.–based juniors line, caught her eye. “It is a vintage-inspired tops line. We bought really cute jackets and burnout T-shirts,” she said. Australian brand Cult got the nod from Bennett’s buying team, as did Silver Jeans and Endo, a line of beaded jewelry. Going forward, Bennett sees a move away from skirts for Summer and Fall. “Last year it was all about skirts; now shorts are really important.”

Although Bennett liked what she saw at the show, she said her budget was slimmer than last year. “We had a really hard Spring last year, so we’ve cut back on all our buying this year and will be more selective,” she said. “We’re going to book less merchandise and try to get more reorders.”