Tcss S/S 2024 Mens Surf Apparel
Retail Buyers Guide: Men’s Surf Apparel S/S 2024 Retail Buyer‘s Guide
Brand: TCSS
Interviewee: Marketing
Could you please draw a picture of the market evolution from 2022 to 2023 so far in the Men’ Surf Apparel business?
We’re getting some inbound feedback that things are a little trickier than they have been the last few years. But we just have our heads down and working hard to produce good product. We’ve just wrapped our best result ever for Spring 24. Which is very encouraging. We’re seeing much of the same, good support of our woven shirting, tees and boardshorts. We have seen some things go a little more vacation wear as opposed to traditional surf. We have a knitted shirting program and more tailored short that have been picked up well.
Banking on the brand heritage (60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, you name it) is the go-to choice for most. Is this a marker of the strength of the surf culture or is there a chance we might tread water?
As a brand we’re built on referencing 70-90s surf culture. It’s not something new for us and something we definitely leaninto. I think it’s a good thing for the industryas long as it’s an inspired by as opposed to just a recreation. Fashion goes in and out of cycles referencing from the past. Definitely feels like surf is about to have little renaissance. That’s the feedback we’re getting from key retailers.
How did you build up your collection for SS24? (themes, stories, carry-overs…)
The SS24 collection is called Panacea, basically a remedy.The idea that Salt Water is a cure for your woes. We’ve worked with a few artists for this collection, one call out is Lucas Beaufort from France, we also have a capsule with California OG boardshort brand, Birdwell dropping and we have a capsule with Thalia Surf. So lots going on! And as mentioned, we’re also continuing and building on the success of the categories already working well for us. In particular woven shirting.
After a few toned down years, bright and bold colorways seems to make a revival. Do you agree?
We’re a brand built on colour, so we never strayed too far from it. However our Vintage Black and our Vintage White tees continue to do the biggest business for us as a Tee base colour.
Whether it is for their technical features or durability statements, fabrics (natural or synthetic) are assessed wisely by customers nowadays. What are your (fabric) takes for SS24?
In our woven shirting, linen and rayon are still the main players, however we have had some success with cotton knits. We’ve shifted all our tees into a 230gsm 100% cotton singles. This is around 50gsm or 30% heavier than most brands on the market. Which adds to perceived value and also durability. Boardshorts we’ve spent a lot of time on fabric development. Our Poly/Cotton Spandex is something that also has additional weight and we’ve managed to acheieve a really solid printability on this fabric that has great colour and wear fastness.
The consumers now want their favorites brands to give back (durability campaigns, NGO partnerships, support to the local community, etc.) What are your actions in this field?
We do a few things here, we’ve recently run campaigns with Greenfleet that replant deforested areas of Australia. We also have a long standing partnership with ‘Take 3 for the Sea’. Which promote the message ‘pick up 3 pieces of rubbish every time you visit a waterway’.
Key Products:
Intro Polo Shirt – Full viscose nylon button down woven shirt. This is a forward style for TCSS and reflective of this more vacation styling.This is something we’re receiving good support for.
Blunder Yarn Dye Tee – Full 90s inspired full knit woven tee with pocket embroidery.
Blunder Boardshort – The Blunder is a Nylon Logger Style Boardshort with taping and wider waist band. This is a mix of 90s and 50s inspiration, blended into a contemporary short .
Brand Previews
