The ASR Trade Expo launches next week in San Diego with the focus likely to be on the growing ties between surf and junior apparel, as action sports firms fine-tune their focus on women’s fashion.
That means retail buyers will likely get their pick of baby-doll dresses, skinny jeans, slim Bermuda shorts, revealing swimsuits, leggings and tunic-length tops for spring. In recent seasons, the differences in offerings from surf labels and looks from mainstream junior lines have become almost indistinguishable, save the ubiquitous hibiscus prints or the action sports companies’ targeted distribution in board specialty shops.
ASR, which is held three times a year, said it expects 7,000 buyers from Sept. 8 to 10 to survey about 500 surf, skate and swim brands exhibiting spring junior fashion at the San Diego Convention Center.
Buyers and manufacturers gave WWD a preview of what they will be looking for and the merchandise to be offered.
Pamela Bennett, women’s buyer for Hansen Surfboards in Encinitas, Calif., said she will be on the hunt for leggings from surf brands such as Hurley International, O’Neill Clothing and Billabong.
Also on her list are tunic-length tops from companies that include Junk Food and Skinny Minnie to complement contemporary versions Hansen carries by Michael Stars and Juicy Couture.
“Because of the leggings craze, the tops are getting even longer,” Bennett said, adding that she’ll also seek slim denim from Hurley, Roxy and Billabong.
In the swimwear business — dominated by mix-and-match separates — vendors said teenagers pay attention to more trends than just what professional surfers are wearing. And, like their mainstream counterparts, action sports companies are under pressure to recognize and deliver trends at warp speed.
“It’s getting faster and faster, just with the Internet and tons of competition out there,” said Dana Dartez, vice president of design and concept at Roxy, the $650 million junior brand owned by Quiksilver Inc. of Huntington Beach, Calif.
Roxy hopes to please savvy teenagers with the spring launch of a higher-priced denim label, Roxy Legend. Retailing for $78, or almost twice as much as the core jean line that starts at $39.50, Roxy Legend will feature six washes, including black and off-white, and four fits, ranging from a skinny cut to a relaxed boyfriend style. Roxy decided to evolve in the competitive jean market with ring-spun mercerized denim, hand-sanding and resin tacking because “we were getting pretty confident with how our [regular] denim has been retailing and the quality and the structure of it,” Dartez said.
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The skinny jean will be a staple from many companies. For instance, Fox Sports Inc., whose headquarters are in San Jose, Calif., with design and marketing teams in Newport Beach, Calif., had never offered a white or skinny jean before its spring 2007 collection, said merchandising manager Tiana Becker.
Becky Bonner, women’s buyer at Surfside Board Shop in Newport Beach, Calif., said Volcom’s straight-leg denim is “always big for us. Billabong and Roxy have done a great job with price points for their denim.”
Along with leggings and Bermuda shorts, the skinny jean plays into the popular proportion carried over from the contemporary market to the junior sector: a voluminous top over a slim bottom.
Key to that look is the dress, which is morphing to Empire from drop waists and rising to mid-thigh from knee-length. Bowing last spring with shorts, dresses will be top sellers through fall 2007, said Mandy Robinson, design director of Billabong in Irvine, Calif. “We’re confident that we’ll be adding and carrying over and continuing to update our shorts and dresses. I still don’t see skirts being very important for the next couple of seasons.”
Skirts that will be displayed include tulip skirts from Roxy and constructed 12-inch-long miniskirts paired with leggings from Hurley.
Underscoring the importance of its women’s business, Hurley, the Costa Mesa, Calif., unit of Nike Inc., named Maria Barnes to the new position of senior vice president to oversee the strategy and direction of its young contemporary division. Barnes previously oversaw North American sales for Roxy’s swimwear and accessories and managed Quiksilver’s now-defunct contemporary brand, Alex Goes.
Bold colors and allover prints will saturate spring selections, manufacturers said. Hurley is concocting abstract prints of palm leaves and dedicating everything in its Dec. 15 delivery to a black-and-white palette; Fox is mad for plaid; Insight is pushing pinstripes and zebra stripes, and Split Juniors is pairing red with navy or black in horizontal stripes.
Vibrant colors will permeate swimwear as well. “We are seeing a huge emergence of a rainbow of colors,” said Mary Miller, juniors design director at O’Neill. “It is more bold and clean and bright, where in the past it has been more muted.”
Marisa Leonard, women’s buyer for Val Surf, which has five locations in Southern California, said, “Solid colors are a little more happening these days [in swimwear], so I’ll be looking for those again.”
Surf Diva, the La Jolla, Calif., surf school that launched its swim and apparel line last spring, toned down embellishment in its second season and heightened attention on colors including turquoise and pink, said chief executive officer Izzy Tihanyi.
At Rip Curl, stripes and checkerboard patterns are strong. Latching onto the growing demand for stylish swimwear, the Costa Mesa, Calif., company is adding holiday to its swim deliveries. “To be competitive, we want to offer our best product as often as we can,” said Amy Olson, girls’ surfwear merchandiser.
Leonard at Val Surf said that in swimwear she will be buying in response to two strong trends: vintage-inspired suits that have “a wider-side bottom and bandeau tops,” and more sporty looks for “the really surfy girl that loves Billabong and O’Neill.”
Among many stops, she plans to visit O’Neill, Billabong, Roxy, Raisins, Vix and her favorite swimwear line, Vitamin A.
Surfside’s Bonner said she will check out one- and two-piece suits from Billabong, Volcom, Hurley and Roxy. “We’re going to be on the lookout for major trends,” she said, “including bikinis with triangle and halter tops.”
In addition to swimsuits from top surf lines, including Billabong, Roxy, Raisins and O’Neill, Hansen’s Bennett said she would also order women’s styles from Leilani and Calvin Klein.
Amahlia Stevens, founder of Laguna Beach, Calif.-based Vitamin A, added a complete line of short tunics, long dresses and other cover-ups because customers buy the supplements to go to restaurants and clubs.
Teenage girls also like to show off their legs in HotPants that have a 2.5-inch inseam. “Cuffed bottom shorts are important,” said Marla Maxfield, design director for Split Juniors in Irvine. “You can adjust them on the side to make them shorter.”
Bennett said she would also reorder women’s boardshorts from Roxy, Billabong and O’Neill. “They have been selling off the charts,” she said. “This was the best year ever for boardshorts.”
For more clothes to wear on the street, buyers can head to Agenda, a 120-brand trade show that includes emerging streetwear labels like Harajuku Lovers and established names such as Reebok. Agenda will run concurrently with ASR for the first two days at the San Diego Concourse, a mile from ASR at the convention center.
— With contributions from Rachel Brown