Duotone S/S 22 Kiteboarding Preview

Retail Buyers Guide: Kiteboarding S/S 22 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Duotone
Interviewee: Philipp Becker, Marketing & Communications

What discipline (big air, wave, foil…) has grown the most so far in 2021 and why?
Besides Wing Foiling, we see a growth in lightwind kiteboarding and foiling with new products like the Juice D/LAB and a active movement of the big air scene again.

What do you believe will be the main trends for 2022 in kiteboarding, in terms of riding disciplines?
Probably Big Air will have a little new kick, the WOO cmps are pushing it in a fun way for pros and regular kiteboarders.

In what discipline do you expect the biggest growth in 2022 and why?
For us in lightwind kiteboarding due to the Juice D/LAB which is loved by our customers, on foils and twintips, but also in our total range of SLS and D/LAB products.

DICE CC3 SLS

Which of your Kites are selling well in 2021 and why?
Especially our D/LAB and SLS series are selling very well, and even a bit overwhelming, as we thought due to a bit of a price increase in those series, it would be harder to sell, but kind of the opposite happened.

What is new for your kite construction, materials and design for 2022?
The newest are the SLS and D/LAB constructions in our kites, making the kites lighter, still offering great performance in terms of durability. We also offer a D/LAB surfboard construction, with very super smooth surfing charcteristics, great dampening for comfort due to RMF, the reflex memory foam.

Are there any trends in terms of kite design, construction and materials that the entire industry seems to be progressing towards?
I guess quite a lot of brands will try to follow Duotone in terms of the segmentation of our products with different levels of progression and to develop products which can work in literally no wind.

Which of your boards are selling well in 2021 and why?
As it’s the biggest group of customers, our freeride/freestyle twintips are selling quite well, as well as our whole surfboard range, especially now SLS and D/LAB boards.

What is new for 2022 in terms of board design, materials and construction?
The newest and most impressive, which every customer can feel in seconds, is how agile and light SLS and D/LAB kites are and how well and comfortable D/LAB surfboards work.

Are there any trends in terms of board design and construction that the entire industry seems to be progressing towards?
In twintip design, I don’t see too much development as boards are on a quite high level already, regarding surfboards, it’s the continuous search for materials which are lighter and lighter, provide the typical surfboard feel, whithout being too fragile like a regular surfboard.

SELECT SLS

Any stand out new graphics or artwork collaborations?
For sure the golden material of the Juice D/LAB is the eye catcher this season, personally I also really like the Jaime and the Jaime SLS and the Fish D/LAB, check out the webpage! 😉

Do you have Pro Models?
We don’t have classic pro models anymore, but are in close contact with our riders during the development of the products. The sport is so versatile now that e.g. an Airton Cozzolino would use a Voke for Freestyle, a whip for medium waves, a Session for fast and huge waves and a Fish for everything inbetween

Have you implemented any new sustainable practices in your production and shipping processes?
We continuously try to minimize packaging and to use recyclable or recycled materials. The Panademic made it a bit harder to plan, but in general we’re trying to avoid air shipments. We’re having concepts to encourage employees to come to work by bike and a very open home office policy, saving all the costs and stress of commuting.

How are you helping retailers sell your product and which method of help seems to be the most effective?
We’re starting more and more demo tours and presentations, online and as far as it’s allowed, face to face again.

Key Products
I need to say it again: The Juice D/LAB. Please try to get one in your hands, in one second in 4-6 knots you’ll understand more than I could explain in words now.

Try the Fish, Wam or Whip D/LAB, this construction is insane and again, on the first 50 meters on one of those boards, you’ll think wow, my choppy home spot has never been so sweet!!