MANUFACTURING
Kelly Slater Appoints More Execs to His New Brand Outerknown
Surf legend Kelly Slater is hoping to rip it with his new clothing label, Outerknown, which will see the men’s collection in stores for Fall 2015 and women’s debuting for Resort 2015.
Slater, who did not renew his sponsorship contract earlier this year with Quiksilver, is working on his own brand, which will be a little more sophisticated than the traditional surfwear looks.
Outerknown already has a minority investment from French luxury conglomerate the Kering Group, which owns Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta and Stella McCartney. Now Slater is working on putting a few more people in the executive suite after tapping John Moore, named by GQ as the best new menswear designer, as creative director.
Joining the staff of the company, based in Culver City, Calif., is Stella Ishii, who has been named sales director for the Americas and Japan. She is the woman behind The News showroom in New York and helped launch Vivienne Westwood in the United States.
Shelly Gottschamer has been named director of supply chain and sustainability, leading the brand’s progressive sustainable production and sourcing efforts. She spent the last five years as sportswear sourcing manager at Patagonia, overseeing the line’s environmentally conscious supply chain.
Julie Gilhart, a fashion consultant and a former Barneys New York fashion director, has been appointed to the executive board of directors and will be consulting on how to develop the voice of the brand and contributing to areas such as design, sales, production and communications.
The men’s collection will include T-shirts, woven shirts, knits, jackets and chinos in muted colors. Denim will be added when a sustainable source can be found. Womenswear will be more style oriented and have some contemporary influences.
