O’Neill

New patent marks the latest addition to O’Neill’s list of more than 20 awards and patented products

Irvine, CA, September 8, 2011 – O’Neill Clothing (oneill.com), the original surf, snow and youth lifestyle brand, has officially received the product patent for its top-selling Superfreak Boardshort Series. This announcement marks eight years in the making, and adds to O’Neill’s lengthy list of notable awards and patents.

The Superfreak patent also comes on the threshold of O’Neill’s 60th anniversary, upon which the brand will celebrate more than a half century of product innovations, including the first wetsuit, surf leash and surfboard bag. Inspired by Jack O’Neill’s famous wetsuit invention, the Superfreak Series led the way for many of the technical boardshorts currently on the market. The Superfreak incorporates patented technology, in which a stretchable panel runs along the rear of the short, providing greater flexibility. The less flexible areas of the loose-fitting boardshort allow for continued durability and comfort. The result is a flexible boardshort that doesn’t compromise form or durability for comfort and performance.

“Our patented invention is for a Superfreak boardshort that’s constructed with a stretchable panel,” said Steve Ward, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing, O’Neill Clothing. “Although the invention is useful in a wide range of clothing and applications, it’s especially relevant for apparel with high-intensity physical activity, such as surfing, wakeboarding and paddle boarding.” After several years in development, O’Neill’s original Superfreak was officially introduced in 2003 and won SIMA’s Product Innovation Award in 2004. In the subsequent years, O’Neill has refined and expanded the Series, which currently includes more than 15 styles, many named after the brand’s top athletes, including the world’s number-two surfer, Jordy Smith, ASP tour surfer Cory Lopez and wakeboarder Scott Byerly.

“For a company built upon and known worldwide for product innovation and performance, the patented Superfreak boardshort is the latest achievement in a long line of industry-leading ideas from O’Neill,” said Toby Bost, CEO of O’Neill Clothing and La Jolla Group. “We introduced the stretch boardshort category and are always striving to make our products perform better, fit more comfortably and look cooler than any other out there.” “It’s unfortunate that so many products proprietary to the industry have been pirated and mass-produced over the years,” added Bost. “O’Neill has been working on patenting aspects of this boardshort since 2003. Now that the patent has been granted, we intend to protect our invention and the surf industry as a whole from poor quality infringing products. There’s a right way to go about protecting one’s property and peers, and this is one way O’Neill will invest our future efforts.”

For more information about O’Neill apparel, athletes and events, please visit oneill.com

TransWorld Business caught up with La Jolla Group CEO Toby Bost at Surf Expo in Orlando last week to talk with him about the recent news surrounding the company, its latest licensing deal with streetwear brand True Love and False Idols and O’Neill’s venture into eyewear. Watch the video at Transworld.

group Y Panel Discussion & Gathering; “Inside the La Jolla Group”

Watch it LIVE at 6:30pm on lajollagroup.com/live

presented by Fuel TV

Thursday, December 10, 2009
6:30pm – 10pm

La Jolla Group headquarters
14350 Myford Rd
Irvine, CA 92606 map

A panel discussion on the inner workings of the La Jolla Group (Rusty, O’Neill, Lost & Metal Mulisha), presented by group Y and FUEL TV.

Execs from the company will discuss various topics including: the dynamics of having multiple brands under one roof, developing and designing a collection from A-Z, the importance of maximizing athlete relationships to engage & influence brand perception and purchase behavior, and more. Guests are encouraged to mingle outside the discussion and enjoy complimentary drinks and appetizers – and a holiday gift bag at the end of the night.

Executive speakers will include:

* Bill Bussiere , LJG President & CFO
* Steve Ward, O’Neill VP of Marketing, All Categories and VP of Sales, O’Neill Men & Boys
* Michelle Devine, O’Neill VP of Sales, Juniors & Girls
* Ryan Rush, O’Neill VP Men’s M&D
* Michael Tomson, Design Consultant
* Ryan Divel, Lost VP Sales & Marketing
* Ryan Hagy, Metal Mulisha Marketing

Panel moderated by Jim Shubin

Registration

$25 pre-registration, $30 at door (cash only) CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Apps, drinks, beer and wine will be provided.

The panel discussion will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

group Y and La Jolla Group invite all those involved with the action sports, youth marketing, brand marketing, entertainment & communications industries to attend. College Students interested in action sports and youth marketing are welcome to join us.

PLEASE READ:
-Pre registration ends on Wednesday, December 9th at midnight. If you are not pre-registered and paid before it closes, you must pay the walk-up fee of $30–CASH ONLY–at the door.
-If you need a receipt for business purposes, please use pre-pay!
-If you have any other questions and/or problems with registration, please email us.

The article in INC. Magazine describes O’Neill’s use of contests to develop young talent.

As models strut down the catwalk, flashbulbs pop and the thumping bass of techno music is drowned out by the shrill screams of hundreds of teenagers. In this crowded hall in Laguna Beach, California, four budding clothing designers are facing off. To determine the winner, the audience members will send a text message with their mobile phones to vote for their favorite design.

It might sound like a reality show, but it’s actually the high school internship program of La Jolla Group, an apparel company in Irvine, California. Every September, a handful of teens compete, each of them designing an outfit for O’Neill, La Jolla’s surf-inspired clothing line. The winner of the fashion show receives an internship at La Jolla Group, a $4,000 scholarship, free clothes, and a mention in Teen Vogue.

La Jolla Group’s CEO, Toby Bost, came up with the idea for the contest in 2007, because of a shortage of designers specializing in surf fashions. As the industry grew, he says, La Jolla and its competitors would frequently poach one another’s employees. “I knew that we couldn’t keep going on by pinching designers from each other’s backyards,” he says. “We needed to manufacture long-term talent by targeting students early and focusing them on a design career.”

Bost worked with Shelley Sheppard, the director of marketing for O’Neill, the company’s most popular clothing line, to develop the concept, which they dubbed Generation Next. Bost and Sheppard planned a six-month program that would culminate in a fashion show featuring O’Neill’s spring collection. They would pair four teenagers with their designers, who would guide them through the process of creating a beachy dress and a handbag for O’Neill’s junior line for women. Besides being able to form an early relationship with talented young people, there were other benefits to the contest. Working with teenagers seemed like a great way to get some insights about the company’s younger customers. “It gave us a chance to get inside the minds of our target audience,” Sheppard says. It was also a chance to drum up some publicity.

To find participants for the inaugural competition, Sheppard contacted career placement offices at nearby high schools in Southern California. Interested students were asked to write an essay about what fashion meant to them. Sheppard also contacted Teen Vogue. O’Neill had been advertising in the publication for several years, and the two organizations’ marketing teams had worked on some events together in the past. “They said yes right away,” Sheppard says. “From then on, our two marketing teams worked together.” Teen Vogue offered to co-sponsor the contest and began promoting it to some of its readers via targeted e-mails.

Thanks to La Jolla Group’s aggressive push — as well as a tough job market that has created a high demand for internships — the company received several hundred applications. One of them was from Rebekka Schuman, then a student at San Clemente High School in San Clemente, California. To Schuman, it seemed like the ideal opportunity to turn her interest in surfwear into a career. “It was like a light went off in my head,” she says. The O’Neill marketing team and designers narrowed the pile to 10 applicants and conducted in-person interviews. Then they chose four finalists, including Schuman.

The teens worked with the designers about three days a month for a few hours after school. They put together trend boards of fashions that inspired them. Then they created several sketches of their designs. After that, the employees showed the students how to input their designs into Adobe Illustrator and create a so-called technical package, which specifies the measurements and fabrics to be used in manufacturing. After the dresses were made at O’Neill’s factories, the teens did fittings with models.

Then the students focused on putting together the fashion show. That included promoting themselves and learning to be managers. Each of the contestants had to put together a team of 15 students from her high school: five to model clothes, five to help backstage, and five to help market the show by putting up fliers and using Twitter and Facebook to promote the event. One of the finalists even persuaded the cheerleaders at her high school to do catchy chants during football games. Building a team wasn’t just about choosing friends, says Schuman. “I asked people who I didn’t really know personally but who I thought would be perfect models or marketers,” she says. “Everyone I talked to thought it was a really cool thing to be involved in.”

Maybe it was cool, but participating in the contest was time-consuming, for both the students and the employees. “Besides this program, the girls had other activities like sports and clubs, and we didn’t anticipate how difficult it would be to coordinate meetings,” Sheppard says. “Our staff ended up working with them on weekends and late nights, which meant lots of extra hours for them.” Schuman says the days leading up to the show were stressful as she and the other students worked several hours a night after finishing their schoolwork.

In the end, the effort was worth it. On the night of the fashion show in 2008, more than 500 people packed the exhibition hall. The turnout and enthusiasm were beyond anything La Jolla Group had expected. Schuman won for her white eyelet dress and faux leather metallic bag. Although there was only one winner, all the teens walked away with an impressive portfolio of designs and an insider perspective on La Jolla Group’s industry. “The contest is creating talent for the next generation in surf design,” says Bost. “My vision is that this talent will come work with us in the future and design some great lines.”

It’s too soon to see the program’s long-term results, but the company received a record number of applications for its 2009 program and was able to get even more students involved by holding a pep rally at each of the finalists’ high schools and providing buses to transport students to the venue to cheer their classmates on. Plus, three of the four contestants from 2008, the first year of the contest, have gone on to study fashion design, including Schuman. She recently started her freshman year at the Fashion Institute of Technology, a design school in New York City, and says that Generation Next altered her college plans. “Before, I was looking at going to local California colleges and wasn’t sure what I wanted to focus on,” she says. “The experience helped me discover a love for this industry, and now my goal is to build a career in it.”

By DAN BEIGHLEY
Orange County Business Journal

Clothing maker La Jolla Group Inc. has made a big investment in a new Irvine headquarters.

The company, which makes clothes under the O’Neill, Lost, Rusty and Metal Mulisha brands, recently consolidated operations in Irvine, where it used to be spread among five buildings.

La Jolla now operates from 200,000 square feet of space at 14350 Myford Road near Tustin, where it has 150,000 square feet in one building and 50,000 in an adjoining one.

About 140,000 square feet of warehouse space makes up the bulk of the operation.

La Jolla employs about 350 people in Irvine.

The new space is double La Jolla’s old headquarters in the Irvine Spectrum.

The company sells clothes inspired by surfing, skateboarding and motocross through J. C. Penney Corp., Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Macy’s Inc. and other retailers.

La Jolla has revamped its Irvine building to include skateboard ramps, a gym, an indoor basketball court, a 2,000-square-foot store as well as 6,000 square feet of conference and showroom space.

Chief Executive Toby Bost, clad in jeans and a T-shirt, declined to say what the company spent on the improvements.

“We built the building around action sports,” he said.

La Jolla Group has yearly sales of more than $200 million. Last year, sales grew 15% in a tough economy, Bost said. In 2007, they were up 30%.

Sales last year were helped by La Jolla’s opening of six of its own stores in California and Las Vegas, as well as a flagship O’Neill store in Anaheim.
The stores employ about 100 people.

Half of La Jolla’s business comes from its O’Neill brand, which it licenses from brand owner O’Neill Trademark BV under a “long-term” contract, according to Bost.

The other half of La Jolla group’s revenue is split evenly among its three other brands.

The company is feeling the clothing industry’s challenges, as shoppers pull back on purchases and stores such as Wal-Mart and Kohl’s have come up with their own lines of surfwear, Bost said.

“There’s definitely a recession going on in surf,” he said. “Fall is usually the toughest time for the industry. This one should be the toughest.”

For more on this story, see the July 6 edition of the Business Journal.

29 March 2009, Marrawah, Tasmania – It was a battle of the World Tour surfers, as Jordy Smith took out the inaugural Cold Water Classic Series event held in truly epic conditions at Bluff Reef in Marrawah, Tasmania.

In solid 8-foot swell, offshore winds and just to top it off – sunshine, Jordy Smith and Damien Hobgood showed just why they are two of the top World Tour surfers at the moment.

“It was good to get a win,” said Jordy. “It’s been a while. Damo’s been ripping this whole event,” he said. “I looked up to him as a kid so it’s great to be out there with one of your heroes.”

For Damien it was an impressive second place performance, but he was disappointed not to win the engraved wooden trophy; “I was hoping to dedicate that trophy to the Marrawah pub,” he said. “I had needed to step it up. I just didn’t do it. It was hard for me. Sometimes I was really hanging on with my toes so hard. It’s a little bit more bumpy out there than it looks for sure.”

Jordy Smith had blazed his way to the finals, knocking out the phenomenal Australian talent of Owen Wilson in the quarterfinals before an exciting close semifinal heat against the Brazilian Jadson Andre.

The other semifinal also could not fail to disappoint given the talent on offer at this competition coupled with the perfect conditions. The American Patrick Gudauskas narrowly missed out on advancing to the finals with a spectacular barrel on his last wave which came so close to the 9.07 score he had required against Damien Hobgood.

“Thank you to O’Neill for thinking out of the box,” said Damien after his heat, “and thank you to all the people in Marrawah who have been so welcoming and so open.”

Among them were Christel and Max Whish-Wilson who let the final contest day move into their house and front lawn – looking out over Bluff Reef.

“It’s been an awesome experience,” said Christel. “We’ve had the best guys staying with us while we cook and take care of them. They’re so well mannered.”

“Having the final here today was exceptional. We had the first day and now the last day here. We just loved it. Max and I both loved it. Hopefully it will come back next year as well.”

It has been a spectacular week both in the surf and out at this first stop on the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series.

Rob Bain, O’Neill’s marketing manager summed it up saying; “It’s been more successful that I could have hoped. We wanted raw and challenging, remote and adventurous, and a good spirit and adventure around the event. We ticked all those boxes,” he said.

“The biggest thing I am proud of,” said Rob, “is the spirit of both the locals and the surfers around the event. The locals didn’t know who the surfers were and they didn’t care. All they cared about was if they were good kids or not, and they all came with such a good attitude and spirit.”

O’Neill is proud to announce that it has been nominated for four awards for the 2009 SIMA Image Awards. O’Neill received nominations for Men’s Apparel Brand of the Year, Footwear Product of the Year, Wetsuit of the Year and Boardshort of the Year. The winners will be announced on May 6-9, 2009 at the SIMA Surf Summitt in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

Category – Men’s Apparel Brand of the Year
O’Neill has a strong history of being a leader in innovation for the surf industry. From the invention of the wetsuit to the introduction of the Super Freak boardshort, O’Neill has a pioneered the most technically advanced product to ever hit the marketplace.  This leadership position continued in 2008 with development of the TIA boardshort, Jordy Smith’s first signature style.  Riding the momentum of the 2007 Jordy Smith signing, O’Neill designed a unique African inspired standalone boardshort for 2008.  Combining functionality, comfort ability and style, the TIA was a huge success at retail.  O’Neill continues to push all other apparel categories with fashion forward trends.  Key category standouts were sweaters, denim, jackets and boardshorts. Backed by an elite athlete roster which includes Jordy Smith, Cory Lopez, Timmy Reyes, Ian Walsh, Roy Powers, and John John Florence; O’Neill not only has on point product, but the star power to effectively market this product to the mainstream.

Category – Men’s Boardshort of the Year
Product Name – TIA
“This is Africa. This is Jordy.” Jordy Smith’s first O’Neill signature boardshort launched in Spring 2008 and ran the industry a buzz. With its African zebra print and bright color pops, a throw back to Jordy’s personality and South African descent, this boardshort stood out as 2008′s leading contender. The TIA psycho stretch 22″ engineered print boardshort features four-way stretch, a super fly closure, and cargo pocket. Jordy’s Y signature, inspired by the South African flag, integrated into the boardshort design gave this signature style a direct tie to his African heritage.

Category- Footwear Product of the Year
Product Name – Surf Turkey
What every surfer needs when they are stepping out of the water on those cold winter mornings. The Surf Turkey is a novelty tweed mid top after surf boot, with a sherpa lined interior, tricot lined footbed and a vision custom molded rubber outsole. This surf boot not only guarantees to keep surfer’s feet functioning but is also a stylish, comfortable addition to any footwear collection.  

Category – Wetsuit of the Year
Product Name – O’Neill Psychofreak
 
O’Neill, the Industry’s Original Wetsuit manufacturer, never sleeps when it comes to innovative design and materials.  For 2008 O’Neill’s Area 52 Product Development Team introduced another revolution in wetsuit design with the Psychofreak.
 
Determined to make the warmest and most high-performance cold water wetsuit, Area 52 set out to design a wetsuit that improved the insulation from its neoprene without sacrificing flexibility.  The end result was the introduction of the Psychofreak made with 100% XDS-Air insulated neoprene. 
 
XDS-Air insulated neoprene is built with a complex 3D structure of rubber and trapped air components that increase the amount of air in the neoprene.   The increased air-to-rubber ratio provides more insulation, which generates more warmth than traditional neoprene.  
 
Combine the toasty XDS-Air insulated neoprene with the insane features of O’Neill’s stellar Psycho 2, and you have a wetsuit that warrants the Psychofreak name.

Introduced in 2003, the goal of the SIMA Image Awards is to identify the surf industry’s most influential companies and recognize them for their efforts to advance and grow the industry over the past year. As you know, all regular and board builder  SIMA members were eligible to enter their brands or products, as well as enter retailers. All entries were then reviewed by an industry panel of experts which included manufacturers and specialty retailers. The nominees in 15 categories were determined by a vote from this industry panel of experts. All paid SIMA member companies and a select list of specialty retailers will now vote to determine the winners. For for detailed information on the voting process, visit simaimageawards.com