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Retail Buyer’s Guide: Men’s Surf Apparel SS23
RETAIL BUYER’S GUIDE
MEN’S SURF APPAREL SS23
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Surfwear at Zara, a surf collection at Ikea, a Hermes wetsuit... Instead of sitting back and watching, endemic brands are going back to their roots, and to retain the upper hand in 2023, are innovating, especially in materials and sustainable manufacturing. This is reassuring. By David Bianic.
O’NEILL
Before placing orders for spring-summer 2023, perhaps it’s a good idea to analyse the summer season that has just ended. The big dog Quiksilver has done its accounts, postng a summer 2022 up on last year, “Less trafc but beter conversion”, says Arthur Pommiers from Marketng. The brand had been countng on a reduced ofer with optmised segmentaton, he adds. Lessons from COVID have been learnt, with brands showing more fexibility. For example, when the Russia-Ukraine confict began to impact the economy, these companies saw it as just another obstacle to tackle as it is “increasingly important to be able to react on a day-to-day basis and adapt to new circumstances and market demands,” says Sofa Dias, Lightning Bolt’s Marketng Director for Europe. In an uncertain market, you have to provide certainty. This could be the credo at O’Neill, who rely on their pillars: “We contnue to see sustainability, community, digitalisaton and sport as fundamental for market growth well into 2023”, says Ricardo Campoa, Head of Design and Purchasing, convinced that consumer confdence is achieved when the brand lives up to, and even exceeds, customer expectatons. Turning these constraints into a strength is also the mantra at SOMWR (pronounced “somewhere”), a new brand/eco-movement launched in 2020 by Svein Rasmussen (Starboard). Today the act of buying is driven by an economic/ecological combo: “That nourishes the hope that quality will get a higher priority compared to quantty.” You see there is hope! Hurley are also witnessing a paradoxical phenomenon linked to the fearinducing context: ”Since nobody knows what going to happen in Autumnwinter, a lot of consumers would rather buy what they need & desire now”, states Fernando Rivero.
MARKET: THE WAVE RISES AGAIN
The wave rises and falls, that’s just how it is in clothing. In 2022, all signs seem to indicate that surf apparel is on trend. “The surf lifestyle has always been popular during summer with high street brands,” says Ricardo from O’Neill, “this year is even more evident”. But brands don’t really see this return of the big groups to the surf game as a threat. To begin with, it’s not the frst tme they’ve seen this happen, and furthermore, these non-endemic brands “are supplying those customers who otherwise wouldn’t really step into our local surf shop,” says Mark Noble, Marketng Manager at Brakeburn. At the same tme, these brands have great difcultes selling technical, innovatve products specifc to surfng such as wetsuits, rash guards, boardshorts, etc, adds Fernando from Hurley. This trend is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on surf lifestyle, which is becoming part of everyone’s wardrobe: “It will be excitng to see how our customers style our pieces with their everyday wardrobe, mixing surf style heritage and mainstream fashion,” says Alexandra Clarke, in charge of design for Gotcha.
SS23 THEMES: EVERYONE HAS A STORY
Once seen as a purely commercial gimmick, storytelling is now seen by customers as a legitmate feature. They want us to tell them a story, in line
Alexandra Clarke, Gotcha
with their values: pieces in a collecton must express and embody a message. For many, this means evoking a golden age of surfng, or rather, golden ages. At Lightning Bolt, they are unsurprisingly leaning on the icon Gerry Lopez, and more broadly on the soul surfer identty through the aptly named capsule collecton The Surfer’s Soul. Four artworks feature on sustainably produced, vintage-modern pieces: late 70s illustratons, 90s cartoons and graphics on the T-shirts. On a completely diferent tack, Lost are staying true to their “bad boy” image in 2023, revisitng the California core of surf/skate, i.e., the Venice skate scene of the 80s, “with bright punk colour pops” and the Orange County surf scene of the 90s, “the grity suburban punk angst mixed with the stll vibrant classic 70s rock infuence.” Hurley are also leveraging rock culture in a capsule collecton (men’s and women’s), christened the Wave Tour Collecton, with T-shirts, crew and crop tops “inspired by the 80-90´s rock band tees trend, but with a big European surfng spot touch”. Gotcha are also tapping into their irreverent roots, with a SS23 collecton that “encapsulates the epitome of the Southern California lifestyle – a chill attude with a penchant for adventure.” Their California Surf Shacket, a shirt with fashy branding on a dark colour, to be worn open with a T-shirt, is a perfect example. Quiksilver refers to a not-so-distant history, reworking their Saturn logo from the 90s/2000s in an eponymous collecton. The silhouetes smack of loose fts and very skateboardy looks.
At O’Neill, the focus is no longer on the icons of the past, but rather on the future, with a Future Surf Society theme that is “Honest, real, and community-focused” in all its diversity. This translates into a clean and colourful collecton, easy to wear basics with generous, slightly oversized shapes and simple graphics, all made from sustainable materials. Similarly, O’Neill are renewing their support for the NGO, Surfers Not Street Children through a collecton of the same name in a palete of monochrome tones and certfed O’Neill Blue (sustainable materials).
LIGHTNING BOLT
And when the themes become the product itself, we think of technically focussed brands like Dakine. With their new All Purpose Gear collecton, the brand are going beyond the boundaries of surfng to provide clothing that can be used in the water, in the mountains and “everywhere in between”. The pieces have artculated cuts, technical treatments and are defnitely designed to move. In the same vein, it’s back to O’Neill and their Hyperfreak Actwear collecton of mult-actvity products made of innovatve fabrics such as the Polartec® Windbloc® jacket or the hybrid T-shirts with Polygiene® treatment. “The real innovation is the work carried out on natural materials, now also synonymous with ‘techy’”
PRINTS & COLOURS SS23: SOFT CORE
Hearing the diferent stories being told above, it’s easy to guess what colour paletes are being used as the decor. Take Oxbow whose main collectons encapsulate the idea of travel, in Africa with their ambassador Kepa Acero, and Surfng Jungle. The frst uses somewhat passé mineral colours, natural tones combined with prints evoking the desert, while the second uses much brighter colours with pop efects (touches of bright colour on a more monochrome background). But you don’t have to travel to the other side of the world to fnd inspiraton; Brakeburn are drawing on their immediate surroundings - Dorset in England - shorts with seaweed prints for example. In general, O’Neill are thinking that neutral and natural tones are increasingly popular, but aren’t closing the door on fashier optons, like neon colours (green, orange, blue) on trims and fnishes. As for the classics like camo prints, stripes and te-dye, O’Neill are revisitng them with diferent gradients and shades. Quiksilver are gambling on purple for their heritage pieces, otherwise optng for monochrome (Saturn collecton). As for Dakine, despite a highly technical positoning, the pieces do not have the fashiness associated with performance clothing. Instead, nature is everywhere with really organic hand-painted prints, “inspired by the energetc ocean waves, shores and deltas”, in harmony with colours such as Terra Khaki, Galactc Blue, Earth Green, Beachy Keen Blue or Canopee Green, all of which refer back to natural elements. Colour also tells a story at SOMWR, in line with the brand’s message of course, with an undyed fabric: “It comes as a light cream tone and has the lowest environmental impacts since there are no additonal substances needed to dye the fabric.” Salty Crew are again aiming their prints at their “surf & fsh” niche, while Mike Niemann highlights the new Feed Frenzy and Navigator prints, and foam, navy and vintage army colours. If these colours and prints are too subdued for your taste, rest assured, there are stll brands like Rietveld to make you stand out. We’re thinking here about the humorous versions of the character Al (Albert Einstein), as well as the Kraken and Surf Skull. You either love it or hate it.
Also, Lost want to stand out with some vintage tatoo prints and psychedelic efects to complement the classic 80s colour pop and 90s mineral colours.
SS23 MATERIALS: BACK TO NATURE
Synthetc materials go hand in hand with technicality and have paradoxically become emblems of eco-producton, in partcular through recycled polyester. Their use is very broad for example Repreve trim on Gotcha jackets for example or on the Everyday Explore T-shirts from Hurley (with 60% coton/40% poly H2O fabric that’s breathable, 50+ UPF and ant-microbial). Their use is stll very broad - Repreve trim on Gotcha jackets for example - but the real innovaton is the work carried out on natural materials, now also synonymous with “techy”. Lightness can also be obtained through materials such as linen or viscose and yet remain consistent with a natural approach like at Lightng Bolt. O’Neill are using more and more mixtures based on seaweed fbres (SeaCell) and oyster shells, with incredible technical propertes. For Oxbow, their 85 collecton relies on merino wool and Tencel (wood pulp, also called Lyocell at Brakeburn): “Those natural fbres are ant-bacterial and dry quickly,” say Men’s Product Managers Aurélien Silvestre and Manon Jouanine, not to menton their excellent results in terms of water, electricity and CO2 consumpton compared to coton or polyester. Natural dyes are also on the rise, whether plant or mineral-based at Quiksilver, on premium organic coton. Ethical producton comes as standard at SOMWR, the vegan and 100% plastc-free brand who are optng for organic, sustainable cellulose fbre certfed by GOTS (Global Organic Textle Standard): “We also pay close atenton to where our fbres and fabrics come from in order to keep the transport routes as short as possible.” Rarely has surf clothing been as coherent as in 2023, ofering an unprecedented balance between the historical values of surfng culture and producton that meets current requirements in terms of technicality, ecology and ethics. The diversity of these themes also allows retailers to make an assortment of collectons that are far from boring. It’s all up to you. HIGHLIGHTS
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BOARDSPORTSOURCE.
1 Reaffirming brand values 2 Ethical and sustainable pieces 3 Natural colours and prints 4 Innovative natural materials
