Through its 20+ year history, the Action Sports Retailer Trade Show has been a focal point for launching new trends in action sports and lifestyle apparel. The winter ASR show January 15-17 in San Diego was no exception offering up new angles in fashion inspired by music, retro lifestyles, artists, athletes, and activists.

To get a sense of the changes in the scene, the ASR magazine—a beefy, oversized magalogue—contained an amazing amount of information about the various brands and their fashion philosophy (similar to the Bread & Butter Bible of Brands in Europe), as well as insider information such as trend reports, including “Runways on the Sand” about the swimsuit scene, “Hip-Hop vs. Punk” recalling changes in snowboarding, and the “Rebirth of Core” regarding the latest scoop on skateboarding. The mag was also a resource guide about the associations surrounding action sports, including non-profits such as Surfrider, SurfAid International, and Boarding for Breast Cancer, as well as the International Association of Skateboarding Companies (IASC), Board Retailers Association (BRA), and Surf Manufacturers of America (SIMA).

But the real stories came in the brands that represented. Overall, action sports and the surrounding lifestyle apparel industry are sporting the retro look, particularly ‘80’s and now ’70’s with a mix of ‘90’s (i.e., high-end sneaks, tighter jeans), which as George Covalla aptly put it in the ASR magalogue, has resulted in a “Frankenstein hybrid style.” If you’re not from this world (action sports/street lifestyle) then you may never get it. But the breakdown usually includes 3 mixes of prevailing music genres and time periods including rap/hip-hop such as high-end running shoe Nike-style and team sport numbers and logos, punk rock skater and ‘80’s and 70’s retro styles, and electro-clash DIY movement, ala Blondie and Duran Duran. The recontextualizing can be found mostly in those brands that have adopted an urban and street characteristic mixed with the inspiration of one of the 3 musical genres. Stand-outs in terms of apparel from this show included, DC and DC Girls, WE Superlative Conspiracy, Nikita Clothing, Etnies, Zoo York, and Volcom.

WE was getting big-hype for its story which starts in Sweden and now includes a concept store in Hollywood. WE as in “us” not “them” (shirts and tie business people), began in 1999 with a skateboard-inspired look. They are among the few brands that use salvaged denim, according to WE representative Jeremy Davis. “Other than Diesel and G-star, for example, we’re using denims from Japan and salvaged denim which comes off a tighter loom.” The differences are trademark denim stretches, a good feel, and a unique design quality including white lines marking the end of spool (on the pockets). Other WE pieces include Japanese leather and down jackets, couture sunglasses reaching a max price of $300 retail, and accessories such as knitted beanies, scarves, and a limited edition cross-promotional line of sneakers and track suits with Adidas. “Underneath the left footbed of a few sneakers,” explains Jeremy, “are airline tickets to Sweden for an exclusive crawfish party this summer.” The point? The crawfish theme is part of their catalogue and story, but the idea is also to spread the international communication that is WE Superlative Conspiracy. The other way is through their sponsored team, including artists, musicians, athletes and activists, such as Jason Lee, Chris Pastros, Paul Oakenfeld, Melon Collin, Jerry Hsu, and Gino. (Check out Vapors magazine which ran a detailed interview with WE Clothing in their latest issue).

The brand with the story seemed to be the trend overall. Fashion has been moving in this direction, particularly among underground brands for the past few years, which is part of the on-going DIY movement and new subculture shows such as Agenda, which took place two blocks from ASR (see Agenda review), and concepts such as Campground and Pool during MAGIC fashion show.

Nikita Clothing has always explained themselves in terms of their philosophy—for girls who ride. But they also have another story including the fact that they straddle the North American and European tectonic plates by being located in Reykjavik, Iceland. In addition, their head designer, Heida Birgisdottir is one of the best snowboarder, skateboard, and motocross riders in Iceland, which is why she started the brand with partners Runar Omarsson and Valdi Hannensson 5 years ago when she couldn’t find anything she liked to wear. Their winter line for ’05-06 which showcased at ASR clearly shows a more urban and street appeal and retro ‘80s and even ‘70’s styling, including slick black and gold track suits, green striped fitted snow jackets, and excessive use of their trademark reds and blacks.

Among the most urban brand doing new things for girls is DC Girls. More known for their guy shoes and having just been acquired by Quiksilver, DC Girls’ future remains to be seen, however, their denim collection, jackets, wovens, and accessories such as wine and vanilla leg-warmers, are urban and cool. Like many girl brands though, getting their stuff to market through knowledgeable reps, sales force, marketers, and retailers who understand women’s buying patterns is a challenge for the line. Therein lies the problem for many brands doing the girl-thing now.

The girls’ scene is also a part of Vans new story. Most known for their checkerboard slip-ons and punk rock roots, Vans girls is pushing design for girls into a more urban environment, i.e. hoodies, skate shoes, and again, button-down woven shirts.

Zoo York pulls its inspiration mostly from urban skaters in New York City and it shows. Graffiti, hip-hop, and skateboarding—cold, concrete and asphalt, New York style—has always been a part of their package, from shoes to dark clothing, hoodies, caps, T-shirts, and the guys they sponsor.

Volcom had its typical individual style by dressing up their booth in a unique theme: this year is was about going nuts, literally. Their booth was covered with peanuts and reps were passing them out all day long. The energy was still hyped in the area, but not as much as last show, probably because the concept is getting old. Still, their brand continues to attract a younger and younger demographic, particularly with their tie-in to the punk scene.

The spotlight on surf apparel and surf-inspired lifestyle clothing was typically on Billabong and Roxy. But there’s a difference emerging among surf style brands. Billabong you can tell because of their green and blue retro swimsuits and apparel; Roxy is more pastels. RipCurl has stepped up with hoodies, shirts, and shorts, as well as O’Neill with their women’s denim products. But they’re still very “surf” which was reflected in the ElleGirl/ASR fashion show.

Hurley’s junior line again went with pastels, including purple, and an ‘80s look for women, but moving prep, like Quiksilver, for men’s. As we reported in our North American Youth Culture Study fashion ethnography, the new preppy look has roots coming out of two schools—east coast urban and west coast surf. Other lines that stood out against the usual at the fashion show were the DC jacket in green, Oakley’s jackets, Matix pants, and a dress by Ezekiel.

The fashion show also represented the latest stories in accessories, particularly the take-off of Ugg boots moving back into the era of moonboots. Naughty Monkey moccasins (the purple pair with a little heel were the hottest), and BC footwear moccasins were key accessories—especially with the punk addition of a silver chain on the left boot.

Other notable brands included Reef, Amerikan, American Apparel (another brand with a story behind it), Oakley, Matix, DVS, Ezekiel, Too Hot Brazil, Rusty, Etnies, Lost, Atticus, and watch company Nixon with their new move into accessories (and cross-promos with musicians such as Metallica).

Overall, the main story today in action sports and youth culture street and urban fashion is that the brand that stands out has a story to tell. Otherwise they get lost among all that’s taking place in youth culture fashion, which changes incredibly fast. With so many design trends still leaning heavily on retro styles of the past, those with a unique story, mix of design and music, and functionality, are the ones leading the pack.

Key Themes:

Recycled

Environmental

Activism

Military/Camo vs. Bright Colors

DIY, patches, stitching, buttons/pins

Frankenstein hybrid style: ‘80’s, ‘70’s, ‘90’s music genres mixed into one outfit

Story/theme/raison d’etre behind a T-shirt, shoe, jacket, watch, brand…

Key Looks

Members Only
Tighter jeans

Faux Fur hoodies

Capri denim (girls)

Jackets in solid subdued colors

Denim for guys and girls

Wovens/colored shirts with art graphics

Cardigans, V-necked sweaters

Psychedelic graphics (including hot colors and camo)

Block prints

Japanese anime-inspired

Deer emblems, horns, outlines

Birds, bats

Trees

Key Accessories:

Leg warmers

Wrist warmers

Military hats

Moonboots

Ugg Boots

Big fur boots

Chains on big boots

Moccasins

Skate shoes

Teched-out ‘90’s sneaks (Nike)

Couture art-inspired limited editions (Reebok, Adidas)

Key Colors:

Black

Gold

Soft pink

Kelly Green

Turquoise

Brown (still)

White (on occasion)

Camo

Bright pinks, purples, orange, red