Verification of Product Supply Chains: We maintain a policy to assess product supply chains to reduce risks of human trafficking and slavery. Audits are not currently conducted by a third party.

Supplier Compliance Audits: We are currently developing an audit schedule and process for supplier evaluation, which we plan to be both announced and unannounced.

Direct Supplier Certification: We are continuing to develop a process for our direct suppliers to certify compliance with slavery and human trafficking laws of their respective countries.

Internal Accountability Standards and Procedures: Contractors will be required to be familiar with our slavery and trafficking standards. Contractors found to be out of compliance will be responsible for developing an action plan. If the action plan goals are not met, the contractor will be subject to sanctions and possibly contract termination.

Training of Company Employees and Management: Training and updates will be provided to employees and management with direct responsibility for supply chain management, with a particular focus on reducing slavery and trafficking risks in the supply chain.

Transworld Business posted an article today featuring Marketing Director Donny Emler Jr. of FMF. Donny speaks candidly in the interview with TWB about FMF Power and the new expanded FMF Clothing line. Read the full article here.

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

La Jolla CEO Toby Bost is featured alongside NBA Star Paul Pierce and Surfer Bethany Hamilton on the Wall Street Journal’s “What’s Your Workout” feature.

From the Article:

The Executive:
Toby Bost is the rare executive who can count surfing in a new pair of board shorts as one of the responsibilities of his job. At the helm of La Jolla Group Inc., Mr. Bost oversees seven apparel brands including O’Neill Clothing USA and Rusty North America.

The 40-year-old chief executive likes to try out the newest pieces to make sure they’re good enough for brand-sponsored athletes like snowboarder Jeremy Jones and surfer Jordy Smith to compete in. “This business is built on gear,” he says, “so I’m testing everything from technical board shorts to wet suits.”

Mr. Bost strives to stay fit enough to participate in the action sports his brands cater to, like motorcross, surfing and snowboarding. “I need to be in great shape to play,” he says. “My weekly workouts in the weight room just get me ready for the weekend.”

Mr. Bost lives in Newport Beach, Calif., and has a lake house an hour away in Canyon Lake where he tries to hit the water every weekend during wakeboard season, May through October, with his three kids, ages eight, 10 and 12. “It’s a great family sport,” he says.

In wakeboarding, riders strap their feet onto a board while they hold a tow rope that is pulled by a motor boat. Mr. Bost also does free tow surfing, a similar sport that entails standing on a surfboard while a jet ski tows the rider into two- to five-foot waves.

Mr. Bost says that fitness is essential to safely pursing his active lifestyle. For example, recently he was off-road car racing and flipped. “I got tossed around in the seat belt and my head hit the frame of the car,” he says. “Being in shape helps me recover from the crashes and being thrown around.”

In the past he has broken ribs slamming into a wave while trying to do a flip on his wakeboard, and last summer he tore his ACL while tow surfing.

Two years ago, when La Jolla Group moved into a new building in Irvine, Calif., they were able to build a workout facility. “I replicated the gym I have in my home garage,” says Mr. Bost. Nearly all of his 450 employees participate in some type of sport, he says. The company has a mountain bike group, a running club, company-sponsored surf and beach days “in addition to employees skateboarding up and down the halls.”

The Workout:
Monday through Thursday, Mr. Bost drops everything at 5 p.m. and hits the office gym. “I’m pretty routine about how it goes down,” he says. He usually exercises for an hour and then goes right back to work. “That workout break is a time to clear my head,” he says. “If I force myself away from my desk and get my blood moving again, I can sit back down in front of my computer, fresh.”

Mr. Bost says that a strong upper body is essential for performing well in sports like wakeboarding and tow surfing. “When you’re holding on to a tow rope, there’s a lot of pull on the bicep and arms. You need to be strong to avoid being super sore.”

He’s followed the same strength routine for nearly 20 years. “I’m a creature of habit,” he says. He focuses on a different muscle group each day, rotating through chest, back and shoulders. He mixes in bicep and tricep exercises throughout the week.

On a chest day, he might do five sets of standard bench presses, performing five to eight repetitions, followed by five sets each of decline bench presses and incline bench presses.

Mr. Bost says running is enough to keep his legs strong. He aims to run his first mile at a seven-minute pace and his second at a seven-and-a-half minute pace, so that he works up a sweat. “You’d be surprised how fast you can lose your breath when you’re cutting or jumping over water on a wakeboard,” he says.

Mr. Bost surfs at least one hour session during the week and two hours on the weekend. He also competitively races off-road at least two weekends a month.

The Diet:
Mr. Bost tries to eat a light breakfast, usually a banana and toast or a bagel. “I go big at lunch,” he says. “I eat whatever I want and usually I’m eating out with my staff.”

If he eats a big lunch, he typically forgoes dinner for a light snack. “I eat green for dinner,” he says. “I try to stick to vegetables.” Dinner is often at home and might be salad with cucumbers, yellow peppers and light honey dijon dressing.

Mr. Bost loosens up his eating on the weekends, when he often goes out to a local restaurant and orders whatever he wants. “I do 300 sit-ups a in a row each day during the week to keep my stomach flat so I can enjoy drinking beer on the weekends,” he says. “My weekly routine allows me to indulge and not worry about it.”

Cost and Gear:
“I have endless amounts of toys. That’s where my money is spent to fuel this lifestyle,” he jokes.

He estimates that he has 12 surfboards in his garage, one for every wave condition. The boards range from around $425 to $750 a piece. Mr. Bost spent about $250 on his wakeboard, $100 on his wakeboard boots and $40 on his O’Neill wetsuit vest. The Rusty short board he uses for tow surfing coast around $425.

Fitness Tip:
“If you want to do [action] sports, you have to work out,” Mr. Bost advises. “If you don’t, you get fatigued or worse, hurt. You’ve got to be religious and drop everything and just do it.”

Quick Fix:
“If I only have a brief amount of time, I always put cardio first. I’ll take the dog for a run to give us both some exercise.”

The Playlist:
Mr. Bost prefers watching television while he’s exercising indoors. “I made sure the office gym had two flat screen TVs, so I can watch the Lakers or the Anaheim Ducks games while I work out.”

LJG announced a global license agreement with renowned motorcycle and exhaust manufacturer, FMF Racing. As part of the agreement, LJG will oversee the expansion of an FMF apparel collection focused on core and specialty action sports and moto distribution, and extending the current line of men’s and women’s apparel including t-shirts, sweatshirts, riding jackets, hats and other accessories. LJG will also support and expand FMF’s athlete roster, currently anchored by some of the world’s best athletes in Supercross, Motocross, Off-road, Freestyle MX, and Road Racing.

FMF Racing Founder and Owner, Don Emler, had a simple vision for the company when he started it in his garage back in 1973: Provide top-level U.S. racing equipment at the grassroots level. 38 years later, FMF Racing is known for delivering the world’s top performance exhaust products to off-road motorcycle enthusiasts everywhere. Don’s vision continues to guide the family-operated company, which has expanded into a 90,000 square foot state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., and houses the world’s best design and production teams in the U.S. under one roof.

“We are always looking at opportunities to grow and diversify our portfolio, and FMF is an ideal brand for us to continue expansion into areas that have strong growth potential,” said La Jolla Group CEO, Toby Bost. “Motorsports, particularly motocross and off-road racing, have seen a tremendous increase in popularity during recent years. With FMF, we’re looking to establish a deeper percentage of the overall market share, while helping the brand further connect with existing and new consumers.”

“We could not be more pleased with our new partnership with the La Jolla Group,” added FMF Marketing Director,
Don Emler, Jr. “Our brand is at the core of motorsports and has so much momentum right now, so we are looking forward to bringing FMF to new audiences and developing a very successful apparel line with the best in business.”

FMF will have an apparel division based in LJG’s headquarters in Irvine, Calif. alongside the company’s other youth lifestyle brands. FMF Racing’s exhaust line and performance product business will continue to operate from FMF’s Rancho Dominguez, Calif. offices.

LJG and Berrics form new relationship for continued growth among core skate fans and retail partners, at home and internationally.

February 11, 2011 (Irvine, Calif.) – La Jolla Group (http://www.lajollagroup.com), the world’s premier youth lifestyle licensing company, has announced a landmark partnership with the world’s leading skateboarding website and facility, The Berrics, founded in 2007 by professional skateboarders Eric Koston and Steve Berra. The announcement marks LJG’s first official and unique approach into skateboarding, following long-term relationships with surf and moto brands.

“The Berrics brings an exciting media and business model to our industry, and we want to reinforce the groundbreaking efforts they have made these last three years,” said La Jolla Group CEO, Toby Bost. “It’s about giving them what they need to expand skate culture to an even wider audience globally in ways that only they can. By supporting the home to a very dedicated fan base as a result of the site’s content, events and grassroots ambitions, we can accomplish those goals.”

The Berrics’ grassroots approach extends itself in many directions, one of which includes offering independent skate retailers (in all
50 states and Canada) opportunities to buy special collaborative product and advertise, via geo-targeting, on the site through the Berrics Unified program, an important part of The Berrics’ DNA.

“Eric and I started The Berrics because we felt the industry, and its professionals, had lost their footing largely in part to technology change. Our goal has always been to do what we can to help create a healthier industry by providing a destination, both physically and in cyberspace, whereupon the pros, the ams, the companies, the shops and the skateboarders not only felt closer to one another,
but were all empowered, winning and communicating with each other,” said Berra.

“With the resources that have been available to us so far, our own pocketbooks, I think we’ve done a fantastic job. When given the opportunity to partner with someone like La Jolla Group, take advantage of their infrastructure, still retain full control and ownership of our company, not have to worry about them having skate brands that compete with our advertisers AND get the job done was something we couldn’t pass on. We want to see skateboarding and the people who make it happen, from top to bottom, do better, especially in these tumultuous times.”

With LJG’s 21st century infrastructure, The Berrics will continue to build and protect the successful business platform Berra and Koston have created. The relationship will improve The Berrics’ existing and future initiatives, help extend them globally, and continue to
fulfill LJG’s diversification strategy as a leader in youth culture. The partnership with LJG will also enable The Berrics to focus more
on their philanthropic endeavors in North America, following their first public skate park in Westchester, Calif., which is scheduled to open in late Spring 2011.

“Skate is here to stay, and with The Berrics leading the sport’s grassroots future, LJG will offer our trademark collaborative approach, putting our best minds together to make sure this is a win-win for everyone,” said Bost.

Thank you to everyone who came out to Pala Raceway on Wednesday, February 9 and to those who watched the event live on Facebook. It was a great day in celebration of Jeremy.

Check out the video with interviews from the Lusk Memorial Ride Day!

by Erin Barajas, Manufacturing Editor
September 17, 2010
ORLANDO, FLA.—Despite the caution that continues to linger among action-sports brands and retailers, some exhibitors and retailers turned out for the Sept. 10–12 run of Surf Expo with plans to cash in on potential growth opportunities.

The show attracted approximately 2,300 retailers and 1,700 booths to the Orange County Convention Center.

Exhibitors reported a steady stream of appointments and some walk-in traffic from buyers looking to make final orders on Spring 2011 or snag last-minute Fall or Holiday 2010 goods.

Juniors continued to be a major focus among core brands.

Facing stiff competition from retailers such as Forever 21, H&M, Urban Outfitters and the like, surf and skate brands have focused on carving out their own niche in the juniors market.

“Specialty [surf and skate] shops don’t want to and can’t compete with the Forever 21s of the world on price. They have to do something different, and [core brands] have to partner with them and give them the right product,” said Toby Bost, chief executive of the Irvine, Calif.–based action-sports licensing company La Jolla Group. Juniors product coming out of the action-sports industry has to be more than trendy—and it has to be timelier, he said.

O’Neill, which saw its juniors business shrink from 40 percent of its total business to 30 percent in 2010, is taking major steps to staunch the ebb. “We’re doing a complete realignment of our juniors business. The market is super-competitive and value-based. Trends turn in 30 days,” Bost said.

Traditionally, core brands haven’t worked at fast fashion’s accelerated pace. O’Neill Girls has a new management team, a new creative team, a new name (the brand was formerly “O’Neill Juniors”) and a delivery schedule that is peppered with between-season capsules of new product. The company hopes the strategy will help retailers keep sales floors fresh and grow its juniors business to 40 percent of its total business in 2011.

“We’re attacking speed-to-market. Our strategy is to skip the sampling process [for between-season capsules] and work outside of the traditional production calendar. We had to get creative to keep up,” Bost said.

There are risks involved with the O’Neill Girls strategy. “The between-season capsules are small, but they aren’t pre-lined, so we’re taking a risk and investing in our inventory. And we have to retrain the retailer to deal with how fast trends turn,” Bost said. To start, the between-season capsules will consist mostly of knit tops. The first such delivery was shipped for Fall 2010.

Check out the story here.

“The tragic death of freestyle motocross star and San Diego native Jeremy Lusk served as the inspiration for the grand opening of a one-of-a-kind freestyle motocross practice facility, which emphasizes safety and opened to the public on Saturday at the Pala Raceway.
The track features several jumps and a foam pit. Unlike any other track, Pala is open to amateurs.”

Check out the story here.