Veteran surfwear designer Lian Murray is ready to introduce her newest line of clothes this weekend at the Action Sports Retailer show in San Diego.
Murray hopes to make her mark with a line of clothing geared to 18- to 30-year-olds who have outgrown traditional surfwear.
Last June, Murray formed Aqua VI LLC in Costa Mesa. She previously launched surfwear lines at Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., Irvine-based Billabong USA and Costa Mesa-based Hurley International.
The new line includes men’s and women’s denim and casual wear in a style called “California Couture.” It will be introduced to a group of retailers at San Diego’s W Hotel during the retailer show. The company also plans to take part in the Action Sports Retailer show in Huntington Beach in March.
Murray said the new venture was driven in part by Orange County’s lifestyle, reflected by the Fox TV show, “The O.C.”
“The (characters) on the show are premium beach people,” Murray said. “They may have money, but they’re still surf-driven.”
Murray estimates that about 10% of the surfwear industry might fall in the “premium” category that she’s targeting,one that is largely ignored by other surfwear makers, she said.
Aqua VI hopes to fill that void.
“We’ve had a lot of response before we’ve even launched,” Murray said. “People understand what we’re saying and want to get in.”
That interest ranges from sun and skin care products to sunglasses and bathing suits, she said.
For now, Aqua VI wants to get its line off the ground and into retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys and The Closet.
The company expects to generate about $500,000 in first-year revenue. Aqua VI has a handful of workers with plans to add more after launching.
“We want to keep it small to get everything in place,” she said.
Later, the company may grow the brand into a line of retail stores.
“We want to keep them (the consumers) and their kids in the surf lines as they grow up,” Murray said.
Made in OC
The last place you’d think to look for sportswear from Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Columbia universities would be OC.
Yet Ivysport Clothing Co.,the official clothing retailer of the Ivy League,is based right here in Santa Ana.
Now the company has plans to expand the Ivy League brand into a line of infant clothing called “Ivy Baby” and golf apparel that will sell at high-end retail outlets.
“It appeals to the same audience,” said founder Eric Barnes, a Princeton grad.
Ivysport outsources the garments to local manufacturers and sells them through an online apparel store. All garments carry the official Ivy League tag.
“Orange County is very much an Ivy League community,” Barnes said.
Barnes said about 20% of the company’s sales come from California.
Barnes started Ivysport in 2001 to manufacture and market Ivy League sportswear. As an online retailer, he could set up headquarters anywhere, he said,and he happens to like the OC climate and its proximity to other segments of the clothing industry, especially surfwear companies.
Barnes, a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization, said the company also has plans to open Ivysport stores on college campuses and move toward becoming a traditional retailer.
Revenue for Ivysport last year was expected to reach $1.1 million,about double what it posted in 2003. The company has 10 employees.
Read All About it: Hitting 100
The Orange County Register turns 100 this year and,like Disneyland, which will celebrate its 50th birthday,it has launched a yearlong program to mark the event.
The Register plans a series of special sections and stories as well as community and online events as part of its celebration.
Beginning next Monday, the Register will publish stories about Orange County’s history, culture, geography and people in a twice-weekly column.
Special sections on technology, tourism, culture and land development will run in October and November and a soft-cover book on the 100 people who shaped the county will be delivered to subscribers in November, the actual anniversary month.
A collector’s edition of the Register will publish on its official birthday, Nov. 25.
A centennial logo and special Web page, www.OCRegister.com/100, debuted at the beginning of the month, along with the “OC History Moment in Photos,” which will run Sunday through Thursday in print editions and daily on the Web site.
Longtime subscribers will be offered a free rewards program including cash prizes, coupons and other giveaways between August and the November anniversary. Community events are in the works.
Fair a Bigger Attraction
The Orange County Fair, which extended its run by a week last year, ranked No. 14 in 2004 attendance among all U.S. fairs, according to Amusement Business. That’s up from No. 21 in 2003.
The fair drew a record 963,896 attendees, compared to 881,596 in 2003, a 9% increase. The Los Angeles County Fair ranked No. 4, with 1.3 million attendees.
OC topped No. 17 California State Fair in Sacramento, which drew 918,253 people.
