‘Core’ just took on a whole new meaning. Actor Matthew McConaughey is throwing his hat into the surf industry with the release of his own line of swim and surf apparel named j.k. livin, after his production company — and personal mantra — “Just keep livin’.”

McConaughey recently stated “There’s a perception of me as a beach guy,” and now feels the need to put his stamp on a line that is said to be a one-stop supply for everything you need at the beach.

As I covered previously with Evolution’s release of celebrity designed surfboards, it’s always fun to see celebrities giving it a shot in the industry. It’s almost like the kid that just can’t keep his hand out of the cookie jar. To each his own I guess and it will be somewhat interesting to see the designs they come up with.

I will say this much, if McConaughey himself is going to participate in the marketing of his own line it definitely will put a premium on the many skin-laden shots taken of the actor parading around Malibu.

Who knows? Could we possibly have ourselves a J.K. Livin Pro on the ASP Tour in the coming years? I’m going to guess no.

j.k. livin

With the release of the Mick Fanning Signature Series Gold Brigade, Dragon could not have possibly picked a more deserving athlete to use for their very first Signature Series sunglass. They also chose an equally fitting name.

Mick’s partnership with Dragon goes back almost twelve years. They became the first brand to use Mick in a photo shoot and following his 2007 world championship and now the release of “Gold” that relationship has come full circle.

With the increasing use of the ’signature series’ in our industry I always find it refreshing when the brand releasing the series makes a point of really adding personal touch and meaning to the product. It would have been easy to simply stamp Fanning’s name on the shades and call it good, as many companies do when releasing a so-called ’signature series’. With “Gold”, Dragon makes it clear who this product represents. Not only does “Gold” represent his ‘07 crowning as world champ, but it also pays tribute to his homeland of Gold Coast Australia. Add that to the emblazoned Fanning family crest on the frame and you have a perfect tribute to surfing’s current king.

dragonmick fanning

I’m not exactly sure why new apparel startup Amph (short for amphibian) was quietly going along with their business while planning for a stealth launch. Just as the ASR Blog mentioned, I was just recently alerted to Amph through a press release.

It doesn’t really make sense to me that a new company, who has obvious ties to O’neill, would sit out the two biggest trade shows our industry has to offer. None-the-less, Amph is here and after digging around a bit it seems like a fairly interesting model that is poised to progress the sport of surfing.

Pushing the sport of surfing in the name of Amph are Charly Martin, Christophe Allary, Hugo Savalli and Justin Mujica. The four surfers form part of The Amph Program – dedicated to breaking the boundaries of surfing with radical and progressive tricks. With no rules or limitations, the riders will be pushing themselves on the best waves around the world in order to bring something fresh to the sport.

Now here is what I really like about the Amph model, and it’s really a whole other post in itself but I’ll touch on it briefly here. Sponsoring progressive surfers and putting no rules or limitations on them. This is a good move as I see this as the obvious direction that surfing is headed.

I hate to say it because I love surfing for what it is, but you can’t deny that the sport is evolving rapidly. In the last 10 years it’s happened to other sports in our industry, such as skiing and motocross. They both took on serious freestyle movements that refreshed these sports. Surfing is now poised to take on a similar progressive transformation.

With the anticipation of what surfers such as Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith (not to mention the countless others who aren’t in quite the big spotlight like Jamie O’Brien) are bringing to the table, one can’t help but notice the difference in surfing between the new generation and the old. It’s way more exciting and progressive and you can tell which style the kids prefer. I’m getting ahead of myself though…

Back on the topic of Amph. They are set to launch and should be in stores this coming month. No word yet on which stores will carry this line but I’d imagine they will come out in force as they have O’neill backing them. Will Amph play a role in progressing the sport of surfing? Not really, but it sounds like they’ll be right there to support it.

amph
O’Neill

The idea for Moment Skis was, as most good ideas are, born over a pitcher of beer between friends. It’s a rider based company that thrives off of the love of skiing. Moment believes a ski should be more easily controlled thus making for a more enjoyable ski to ride. Using all the best materials, engineer’s knowledge, and rider feedback, Moment produces innovative skis that are rock solid. Moment is continually asking for consumer feedback as well so they can improve on current skis or create new models as needed.

Skis range from true twin(symmetrical sidecut) park skis, to all-mountain slayers, to reverse camber monster pow rippers. Take the Reno Rocker for example, a true twin built for both the park and back country. With dimensions coming in at 117-90-117, this is a ski that can be used anywhere your mind can imagine. Other skis include the Tahoe, at 127-96-118 it’s an all-mountain ripper. The monster Comi is a pow killer at 160-136-145. They offer also ski designs that are completely unique to Moment, like the Comi-Kazi which has the same dimensions at the Comi but also has a swallow tail for added emphasis in the powder.

Moment is a company that produces products that encourage creativity in your riding and gives you the option for something unique and different. Moment delivers with fair prices, quality skis, and designs & concepts that are all their own. Being a rider based company, you know you’re getting something that has been made well and has pride in the craftsmanship.

moment skis

In between sessions of highly contested ping-pong battles at the 5ones office last night, I decided to take advantage of the break in action and flip open the April 2008 edition of Surfing Magazine. Particularly stoked on finding the ‘North Shore In Black and White’ section, I found myself thumbing through the pages and making my way to my intended destination. No sooner than my mag-browsing sixth sense alerts me that I’m only pages away from said section do I end up face to face with an advertisement for Affliction Clothing.

Did I miss the boat on this one? Is there something that I just am not seeing when it comes to Affliction and surfing? To be clear, my issue isn’t at all with Affliction. Clearly they are doing something right when it comes to marketing and their bottom line. It’s everywhere and continues to spread like wildfire. It was just surprising to find myself toe-to-toe with an ad for skull-patch laden black leather boots while trying to lose myself in the North Shore ‘07/’08 season recap.

Where is this connection between surfing and Affliction coming from? I’m fully aware of the crossover made by many wave-riders into the blossoming sport of Mixed Martial-Arts and have all of the respect in the world equally for those who have been passionate about the sport for years as those who have just recently taken up training. However, this is different than the connection between RVCA and BJ Penn. It’s nearly impossible for me to see anything positive whatsoever brought to the surfing community/industry by the infiltration of a brand like Affliction that thrives on the ‘tough-guy’ image into our sport.

I realize Affliction is just doing it’s job by seeking to capitalize on the growth and expansion of MMA into other markets. Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I guess I never expected the decision-makers at Surfing to open their publication to a brand that in my opinion doesn’t have any business, other than business, being there. Hopefully Surfing Magazine realizes that surfing is about setting trends, not following them.

surfing magazine
affliction

The arrival of new goods at our office always finds us more than willing to give the action sports industry’s latest creations a whirl. The crew over at Trunq recently sent us their surf utility-box to scope out, and scope we did…

What is the surf utility-box? Here are Trunqs own words describing their product -

Trunq’s first product the TRUNQ Surf Utility Box was created as a way to clean up the mess and clutter that accompanies a surfing lifestyle. To satisfy this need Trunq designed a product to make the trip to the local break more organized, secure and hassle free. The Trunq Surf Utility Box eliminates the mess in your car, keeps all your surf gear consolidated, and makes the overall surf experience more enjoyable. The convenience of TRUNQ products allows a surfer to focus on the search for great waves rather than wasting time searching for surf gear.

There is no better way of putting a product to the test then throwing it right into action. We at 5ones are pretty much open to any and every excuse to go surfing, and this seemed as worthy a cause as any. So after showing the Trunq off to some of the crew and gathering some initial feedback, we loaded it up and headed down for an always welcome Sunday afternoon session. Here are a few thoughts I had after putting the Trunq to use.

I can definitely see how having something designed specifically for the purpose of keeping your surf gear organized and together can be crucial to the surfing experience. Surf wax, board-combs, and fin-keys are constantly popping up in the most random places around my house and usually end up nowhere to be found when needed most. The Trunq is useful in the rounding up and storing of all the odds and ends around that go along with surfing. It made it really convenient to have one place to stash all of the little goodies that I usually end up cramming in my pockets and around my car when heading out.

The Trunq comes with a mat to use while changing in and out of your wetsuit. It’s lightweight and super easy to clean and sure beats having to throw a towel on the ground in order to avoid gravel and gnarly street grime getting all over your suit during the change before and after a paddle out.

The lock - This is where the Trunq lost me just a tad. To get the full effect, I planned on actually taking the trunk down to the beach with me and locking it up. The only problem was that there was absolutely nothing within site to lock it to once we got there. I can foresee this being somewhat of a common issue at most beaches. I will most likely just leave the Trunq in the back of my car, which I always keep locked anyway. I imagine it could be useful to have the lock for boat trips or camping trips when you’re not able to be right next to your gear and want to make sure no unwanted guests go rummaging through. Their site does also mention the option of using the lock on snowboards as well which I can see making sense.

Where does that leave us on the Trunq? Everyone that had the chance to peep it pretty much agreed it would be something useful and convenient to have, especially in the case of those who regularly make the direct surf-work/school or work/school-surf commutes. Will it be something that we’ll all go out and plunk $60 on? This is where opinions took somewhat separate paths. It all comes down to the increase an individual surfer feels the Trunq will bring to the quality of their surfing life.

trunq

Last summer I asked if Quiksilver was looking to dump Rossignol, the ski company they purchased for a cool $300 mil back in March ‘05. It’s no secret (as not much is with public companies) that Rossignol has been struggling ever since it became a Quiksilver brand as the first year it went from a profitable company to a money-losing company.

Last week Quiksilver president Bernard Mariette was shown the door and troubled Rossignol was cited as one of the main reasons. Mariette was one of the main architects behind the original Rossignol deal and Quiksilver has speculated that he will likely try to acquire the company from them. I’m sure the shareholders are thrilled with that news. Either way, Quiksilver is definitely looking to get rid of Rossignol.

It’s hard to say at this point whether or not Quiksilver will try to remain in the ski game. I can imagine this has left a pretty sour taste in their mouth. If they do they should definitely purchase a smaller ‘core’ ski company that has the same culture as a surf company like QS.

On a side note: Bernard’s getting quite the severance package…

Bernard will receive $106,726 to serve as a consultant for a year. In addition, he will receive severance pay of $2.8 million.

Quiksilver
Rossignol

Sure, there are a number of companies that already make great gloves but that doesn’t mean there’s not room for one more. At least that’s the way Simon Dumont sees it. In order to give consumers and athletes what they want and not what some chubby guy in a suit thinks they want, Dumont formed his own company, EMPIRE Attire. It’s a company based on the premise of ‘made by athletes for athletes’, certainly nothing new there as we’ve heard that mantra a million times now. After all, isn’t Grenade a glove company by the riders for the riders?

Athletes backing Simon and company include the likes of Colby West, Peter Olenick, Jossi Wells and Candide Thovex. As the gloves themselves have not yet hit the market, it’s hard to say for sure if the company is really producing a better product or not. As they hit the market place it will be interesting to see how they stack up against the plethora of other gloves available. Word on the street is that a number of so-called A-list skiers feel the gloves are superior to those currently out there. For all we know at this point though that’s just marketing speak.

So far EMPIRE has produced a small line of beanies and bandannas and teamed up with Akomplice t-shirts to produce a small t-shirt line as well.

I look forward to seeing this product developed by some of the world’s top athletes and I’m expecting nothing short of awesome. I’m always surprised at the lack of other companies out there that are owned by professional athletes. Now don’t get me wrong, I know a majority of the companies in this industry are at least on some level, rider owned. But at the same time it’s the professional athletes themselves that drive a huge majority of the sales for the companies in our industry. Instead of fattening the pockets of Corporate America (which let’s face it, many of the companies in our industry have become) they could be investing in themselves.

Our industry always needs more people willing to get out there and try something new to push the sports further. Props to Simon and the EMPIRE team for getting out there and starting something fresh.

Update: We just received some more information from EMPIRE. The gloves will be available on the website in the beginning of March and will be priced between $45.00 - $65.00, which is a huge relief. I just bought a brand new pair of gloves and they were well north of $100. We’ve also updated this post with pictures of the gloves.

empire attiresimon dumont
akomplice

With a rocking X-DANCE festival charged with 40 plus quality films from all action sports and theater attendance that was wall to wall, New Emissions of Light and Sound came away with a nomination for best cinematography and won the award for best original score. Globe partnered up with world-renowned electronica DJ SASHA to create an audio-visual experience like nothing the surf world has ever seen. Featuring Taj Burrow, CJ and Damien Hobgood, and Nathan Webster among others, New Emissions of Light and Sound strays from many of your typical surf films and uses it’s own unique style to bring a one of a kind experience to the films viewers. With DJ Sasha on tour, Co- director and Editor of the film, George Manzanilla, accepted the award stating that “Sasha would be stoked” as he held the award high above his head.

Check out the trailer below…

x-dance

Hurley, one of the leading global youth brands that prides itself on it’s strong roots in surf, skate, art, music and beach culture, today announced it will be partnering up with Future Distribution in South Africa, which was established and is currently operated by managing director, Jevon Le Roux. Le Roux has a respected track record in the action sports industry, not only as a former pro surfer on the ASP WQS tour, but also from his experience working with such brands as Billabong, Von Zipper, Element, Kustom, and Nixon.

“The opportunity to bring a prestigious brand like Hurley to South Africa is a dream come true,” said Le Roux. “Hurley is an amazing brand that continues to evolve, and I easily identify with the core values and sense of family shared throughout the company. I am excited to further Hurley’s commitment to delivering world-class products to the young-minded audience here.”
Hurley South Africa is set to be based out of Cape Town which has a population of over 3 million. It’s a huge market with very strong ties in the surf industry. From the Thomson’s in 70’s to Jordy Smith, year after year world-class surfers are produced from this area and Hurley should have no problem tapping into this market.

hurley