Follow Brand Impact Vests 2024 Preview
Retail Buyers Guide: Impact Vests 2024 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Follow
Interviewee: Steve | founder
How was the 2023 Market for impact vests?
I guess it’s the COVID hangover hahhahaa. I think the entire market is in a bit of recovery mode at the moment. After the boom of the COVID bubble the industry has a lot of stock in the market. We still saw some great sales results as we had a good selection of new vests for this upcoming summer. A lot of brands were carrying over a lot of styles, so we have been able to continue developing new vests.
Which market segments are you noticing the most growth in and why?
We have seen really strong sales in our women’s range. Follow puts a lot of effort into the fits and colours options for the female range. It seems that the attention to detail and fresh colour options are proving to be successful. We don’t treat it as a girl’s version with black and pink. We put as much effort into the female range as any follow product.
Capiva vest
What are the main trends in the market for impact vests in 2024 and how are you addressing them?
We are finding that customers are still loving our attention to details and fits. I don’t really see any massive trends. We have found our relax fit cut is popular. It seems the wider fit is what customers are buying. Or maybe we all have a COVID belly now hahaha.
Tells us about your new vests styles & designs?
Ah this is a tough one. We always try to really focus on attention to detail. It’s all the little things that I believe makes follow different. From zipper pulls, badging, to unique colours and materials. But most importantly, the performance and fit. At the end of the day, we are building a performance product that has been designed to be used in the water. Not just tested in the office from behind a desk J.
Rarity vest
What trends are you seeing in terms of fit, feel and protection?
We noticed that we offered too many different fits it was getting confusing. By cutting it down to 2 fits (tapered and relaxed) we made it easier for the shops and the costumer to find the right fitting vest in more available styles. The relax cut is proving to be popular.
What (new) technology or materials are using in your crash jackets to give you a unique selling point?
We have our new Project 1 vest coming this year. We developed a Recycled Nylon Chevron material to build this vest from. In the past we have tried to use environmentally safer materials to reduce our manufacturing footprint. It seemed that the general public didn’t want to pay the higher price in the past. This is what lead us to develop this new material. This has created the P1 to a customer for only slight increased price from our entry level range. It has close to 80 plastic bottles in every vest. We are the first to market with this new material so we are super proud to have achieved this.
How are you helping shops and Parks to sell your product?
Besides our team riders that are always at the parks and shops during the season to support them, we do send guides like how to sell vests, learning about our different cuts and materials. Besides that we have dealer meetings during the year to teach them about the new products and get their feedback as well as helping them with any issues they might have.
vest
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