Surfer Aims to Shore Up Sand, Sun Clothing Sector

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Surfer Aims to Shore Up Sand, Sun Clothing Sector
On Board: William Cawley

Surf apparel, once an iconic symbol of California counterculture, seemingly has become uncool. Retailers such as Quicksilver Inc., Rip Curl and Billabong International are suffering, with Quicksilver even filing for bankruptcy lately.

Yet Laird Hamilton, a big-wave surfer known for riding a seven-story wave at 36 years old, last week launched his own clothing line, Laird Apparel.

The collection of men’s clothing, including polo shirts, board shorts and T-shirts, aims to give men functional clothing for all aspects of an active life from surfing and exercise to hanging out at home. His line has a surf theme, but just not a heavy one.

Hamilton, 51, said he created the line because he had trouble finding pieces that fit his lifestyle and taste.

“Other than high-performance athletic wear, there’s not much out there that really caters to men who are active and young but are not going to wear a bunch of logoed-out, surf-branded stuff,” said Hamilton, considered by many to be the best big-wave surfer of his generation.

Surfers were counterculture champions in the 1960s and it wasn’t long before many created apparel lines catering to their rebellious comrades.

Brightly colored T-shirts splashed with surf logos were the hallmark of such brands, but the novelty has since worn off as core customers have grown up and the millennial generation looks to fast-fashion brands.

Quicksilver filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, asking for downtown L.A.’s Oaktree Capital Management to gain control. And Billabong reported a 50 percent drop in earnings for its American operations this year. Oaktree, which owns about 20 percent of Billabong, is said to be considering combining Quicksilver and Billabong.

Clare Varga, active director for trend forecasting agency WGSN’s London office, said the surfwear industry has been flat for many years.

“They just got so vanilla, so mainstream and adopted such a standardized approach to the way they did their design that there was just this homogenous blob of indistinguishable brands,” she said. “They’re completely at odds with the surf counterculture roots that they’d all grown out of.”

Making waves

Hamilton, who grew up in Hawaii, has been surfing for more than 35 years. The athlete and fitness guru said the timing felt right to launch a line – despite the choppy waters facing other surf brands.

“Being sponsored for so many years by other (brands), I feel like in my evolution as an athlete and with the equity that’s in my brand, this is the time to start to try and build my own stuff,” he said.

It’s not the first time he’s launched a collection. Hamilton created surf and skate line Wonderwall in 2008 in partnership with retail chain Steve & Barry’s. The label shuttered when the retailer closed its doors the following year.

He pointed out that Wonderwall was more mass market with less emphasis on technical fabrics and functionality, which is the core of Laird Apparel’s collection.

Hamilton brought in Tim Garrett as president of Laird Apparel, and William Cawley serves as chief executive and chief creative officer.

Garrett said the brand isn’t gunning to be the next hip surf company.

“We’re not trying to say it’s a surf brand,” Garrett said. “It’s more in the activewear and athleisure element. It really is an audience that is very different than that younger surf, skate, snow type of guy.”

The label has three collections to cover all aspects of a customer’s active lifestyle. The off-shore collection includes items such as sun-protective shirts and heat-managing wetsuits. The high-performance fitness collection focuses on training while the lifestyle component features casual, loungewear clothing such as shirts, jackets and pants.

Laird Apparel partnered with a Chinese manufacturer that will also handle online fulfillment for its e-commerce business.

Prices range from $35 for a trucker hat to $120 for a weather-resistant jacket inspired by ’60s surf competition jackets.

Garrett said you won’t find its clothing at mass retailers such as PacSun or Zumiez. Instead, it will be available at specialty shops and even luxury resorts.

The brand launched at Ron Robinson in Santa Monica last week and is also carried at Redondo Beach paddle-board shop Tarsan. Starting early next month, it will also be sold at One & Only Palmilla, a luxury resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.

“We have a very strong inventory as well as new stuff that will be coming in regularly,” Garrett said. “We plan to have something new and fresh showing up every month until we really refine the wholesale model, which we’ll be kicking up in a big way toward spring 2017.”

Growing up

WGSN’s Varga said Laird Apparel’s strategy of pulling away from trendy merchandise, often picked up by teens, is a good one.

“You have this very stereotypical view of this young sport dude, and they’re talking about a much more grown-up consumer,” she said. “I think they have recognized that their consumer has changed. They themselves are the consumer and have different needs.”

It plays well with the exploding athleisure trend, too: yoga pants and other athletic apparel that’s increasingly beyond the gym.

Garrett, who has worked in the surf and skateboard apparel industry for 20 years, said the athleisure trend was definitely a consideration when creating the line.

For example, it created fitness shorts that feature board shorts-inspired closures but are cut shorter for activities such as running or training in the gym, which can easily be paired with one of its T-shirts for more relaxed days.

Varga pointed out that pro surfer Kelly Slater’s L.A. apparel line, Outerknown, which launched in August, also aims for more adult tastes.

But Slater, who parted ways with sponsor Quicksilver in 2014, has taken some heat from fans who have complained about Outerknown’s high price points, such as a pullover sweater costing $425 and a $95 beanie.

Laird Apparel isn’t looking to become a luxury label, but the prices do fall on the higher end as the company emphasizes high-quality materials, Hamilton said.

Pricing aside, Varga said it’s actually the start of a renaissance in surfwear.

“There’s a bit of a renaissance going on in surf at the moment,” she said. “It’s almost like soul surfers, which is what we called them recently in a report. It’s more pure, a little bit more aspirational and it’s real. And that speaks to all consumers, whether they’re surfers or not.”

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