EuroSima Surf Summit 5
The EuroSima Surf Summit 5 in Hossegor was an opportunity to examine the future direction of the surf industry in Europe. Or was it?
On any given day, at any given contest taking place on the Californian coastline, she’ll be there. The WGSN photographer, snapping hundreds of photographs of the “coolest” boardshorts. The collated and categorised images go on to form the basis of the WGSN’s highly prized sport reports, put together by the world’s leading online research, trend analysis and news service for the fashion industry. “Even people like Marks & Spencer want to see what’s going on in boardshorts,” says WGSN active sports editor, Danielle Spencer. “It’s one of our most influential areas.”
But what Marks & Spencer crave to know, apparently the surf industry itself doesn’t. It’s the first day of the 2006 EuroSIMA Surf Summit 5 in Hossegor, and while the beaches are crowded with bikini-clad fans checking out the latest Quiksilver Pro action, the conference hall is two-third’s deserted. Blame it on the sunshine, the lure of the waves or disinterest in a somewhat lacklustre first-day schedule, but by 2pm barely 30 of the 100-or-so industry folk listed on the attendance sheet have turned up. Apparently not even the lure of a free thermos is not enough to drag people through the door.
“I’m a little disappointed,” says Sole Technology’s Franck Messman during a break in sessions. “I mean, there are very few attendants and the actual seminars haven’t been really relevant. The first one was quite good, but I didn’t think the data was very good.”
The data he’s referring to was that compiled by Loïc Le Fournier in his summing up of the 2006 European Surf Market. Le Fournier, head of the Boardsports Local Productive System (SPL Glisse), an association responsible for the support and promotion of action sports industry professionals in France’s southwest, certainly had all the figures: the biggest players (Quik, Billabong, Rip Curl and O’Neill), the industry’s worth in 2005 (10€ billion), the biggest markets (the US at 4.9€ billion), surfing as a percentage of the world’s board sports markets (65 per cent).
What he didn’t have, however, was certainty. Something moderator and Boardsports Source Magazine employee, Iker Aguirre, was at pains to point out. “This is a surf market analysis and Loïc took as a base the most reliable sources but there may be some disagreement with the figures.” So, informative but not definitive.
Not that there were too many outrageous claims in need of unquestionable numerical support. The 40 minute presentation hit on all the usual suspects – the expectation of increased growth in the women’s market, the need for companies to guard the small percentage of technical sales in order to retain their core authenticity, and the emerging focus on company-owned retail stores. Not forgetting, of course, the lure of the new markets in Eastern Europe and Asia and the industry’s cause du jour – new technology and multimedia.
More interesting than the recitation of unanalysed figures, however, was the hour-long conversation regarding the new boardsports business park, currently under construction in Anglet. To be completed in 2007, the “American-style” activities park will provide a business base for the industry in the southwest, providing office and warehouse space for some of the 40 boardsport companies based out of this corner of France.
The first tenant, Volcom, has already established its new European operation out of the park, to be shortly joined by other nearby-based companies, says Pascal Marty, development manager at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bayonne/Biarritz. “For confidentiality reasons we can’t mention names, but we expect the park to be full within the next 14 to 16 months,” Marty says.
But more than just an industrial centre, the park aims to operate as a “nursery” for new business while simultaneously providing a focus for regional government funding. Businesses based here will gain preferential access to funding grants offering as much as 27 per cent of a company’s initial investment in the project. It’s an exciting development, says EuroSIMA President, François Payot, and one which will help ensure the industry’s continued growth within Europe.
“When we arrived 20 years ago the market was growing, but today in France we are in a saturated market,” Payot says. “So for a small brand it is more and more difficult to dig his hole and this kind of park in Anglet will help a smaller brand to have a potential to be strong in Europe.”
Of course while the park will provide business and wholesale space for new businesses unable to afford the cost of renting entire buildings, the one sticky topic this new venture doesn’t address is that of retail. Though Payot waxes lyrical about the need for strong competition to engender growth, neither he, nor the conference schedule, touched upon the big retail question – where are the independents? While small businesses may now find a European home within the cosy confines of Anglet’s business park, the problem of where to sell their products still looms large.
In a retail climate dominated by company-owned stores, the example of the difficulties for smaller companies in finding sales outlets are legion: One of Hossegor’s few independent retail outlets was recently swallowed up to serve as a showcase for Billabong’s ancillary brands, leaving little available rack space for those small businesses operating outside the protective umbrellas of larger parent companies and their far-reaching retail networks. Even trend leader, Volcom, is clearly held to ransom by its own lack of company-owned outlets: flying high on the US Stock Exchange, the company’s share price was significantly reduced following an announcement by Pacific Sunwear – Volcom’s largest retail outlet – that the group may no longer find room to stock the company’s full range of footwear. Even if the industry itself is not properly recognising the problem of independent distribution, the stock exchange clearly is.
A topic for next year, perhaps.
But if day one of the conference was categorised by weak seminars and low attendance, day two certainly went some way to redressing the balance. Large numbers turned out for a light buffet lunch by the pool, but even more poured in the conference doors to hear discussions on youth cultural trends and directional womenswear colours for the upcoming summer season. Of the two, it was the latter – presented by Danielle Sellwood of WGSN – that hit the ball out of the park.
While her presentation of upcoming colour trends clearly snared the attention of the rapt audience, it was her discussions afterwards which shed an interesting light on the relevance of the surf industry to mainstream fashion. “The cross-over is massive,” Sellwood explains of the company’s frequent surf industry trend reports. “People like French Connection, their high summer stories are always going to have a beach orientation. It doesn’t have to be necessarily palm trees and surfboards, but they want to be associated with what’s going on – and look like they are in line with what’s going on – in the industry. They are kind of hoping to fit in.”
As for what Sellwood predicts they will be inspired by, colour palettes this year are running the gamut from a slightly toned-down, retro feel to a sophisticated palette of contrasting, moody darks and lights. There is Nostalgia with its shades of grey and pale blues, cool and soft offerings moving away from the green shades that have dominated recent seasons. Tattoo offers a more macabre colour palette of black, flesh tones and soft silvers and golds – though without a metallic sheen – in a sophisticated range suited to sexier, grown-up swimsuit shapes. Timeless is all about ‘50s retro with an easy combination of colours that work well as stripes. Intense showcases directional brights contrasted against black, with Faded Neon offering chalky, washed out colours for a high summer look that is soft and easy to wear.
They are, says Sellwood, looks that have been already showcased on European runways this year and which consumers will be seeking in everything from casualwear to beachwear as fashion magazines pick up on the catwalk themes. In other words, designers take note.
Everywhere during the two days of the conference could be heard the lyrical sounds of industry execs chattering away in French. Hardly a surprise, given the location, but perhaps worth a comment when taking in to consideration the position of EuroSIMA as a surf industry body representing Europe. So where were the Italians, the Spanish, and the Scandinavians? It’s a question ASB brought up to a few attendees, though no one appeared particularly concerned by the conference’s French-centric nature.
“It’s much too small of a club, EuroSIMA, it doesn’t reach them at all,” says Sole Technology’s Franck Messman when questioned on the scarcity of retailers, industry players and agency representatives from other European sectors. “I mean, I didn’t expect that at all. Perhaps I would have thought that there would have been more of the footwear companies here – whether its Reef or Vans or DVS, companies that have European headquarters – though they are not really here.”
For Payot, EuroSIMA’s President, the lack of cultural diversity was accepted with a similar degree of equanimity. While firm in his stance of inviting “all the European companies, all the EuroSIMA members”, he is quick to point out the industry’s heavy French leaning. “You have to know that most of the big surfing companies are located in France and this part of France,” he says. “You have not many big brands outside of here and sometimes the smaller brands; they are one or two people operations. They have the nose in the wheels. They cannot travel here. It’s a shame, but when they get bigger they can send somebody and if they feel interested, come back.”
And it is a shame, given the threat of homogenisation that comes as all brands find their focus and inspiration from the same small part of the world. The need for difference of opinion was brought home by – oddly enough – one of the only non-French-based brands to make an appearance at the conference, Nikita. During a forum discussion on womenswear trends, company co-founder Runar Omarsson explains the benefits that come with separation. “In Iceland you don’t wear pink to the beach unless you are a tourist or an exchange student, so it’s not like Roxy,” he says. “We don’t buy trend reports. It keeps us independent. More or less everyone is buying the same colour palette. It’s super important that everyone has their own vision and sticks to it.”
A few lacklustre talks, a couple of great and informative sessions, fluctuating attendance – so successful, or not, was the question posed to Payot in the dying hours of the conference. “It is progressed every year so that’s a good sign. Now what I expect is that people will take back something with them (that will) help them to be better in their business tomorrow,” Payot says, but not before adding a small caveat apparently relieving him of the immediate pressure to determine the conference a success, or no. “Now it’s not me who can tell if it is what I expected, it is the future which will let us know if it has been a good conference or not.”
A future which, next year, will call upon the same strategy of “brainstorming” and generalised discussion. If Payot’s predictions are correct, a 2006 success will mean higher attendee numbers in 2007. So, a tangible, definitive answer as to the conference’s worth? Looks like it just received a 12 month reprieve.