Surf Expo got underway Thursday in Orlando and it felt the closest to pre-pandemic times than any trade show we have attended since Covid arrived on the scene.
Nearly every surf brand returned to the show, which also featured lots of new brands as well. And we came across a wide variety of retailers, ranging from department store Dillard’s, which is based in the Midwest, to the Déjà Vu Surf Shop from Kauai.
Below are photos from the show floor from Thursday and Friday.
Shaun Tomson with the special booth Surf Expo created for him
Kiki Prince and Sasha Hartloff with Roxy's new collaboration with Kate Bosworth that celebrates the 20th anniversary of "Blue Crush"
Cory Higgins of Jetty with Karen Klimkiewicz, the new GMM at Ron Jon. Cory and Karen grew up together in Jersey.
Kaylee Fisher and Dayna Cottee of Roark wearing the new women's line
Dayna Cottee of Roark with the new Roark Women's Passport jacket
A Roark Women's twinset
Matt Keenan of BN3TH and Ciara Orrell of 17th Street
Snowy Lonsway, who has returned to Electric, and Brent Lantz of Volcom. It was great to see Volcom back at the show.
Two former world champions watching the Rip Curl WSL Finals - Shaun Tomson and PT
Mike Reilly of Quiksilver and Bill Dreibelbis of Quiet Storm
Quiksilver had monitors in booths showcasting the Elastic B2B platform to encourage less use of printed catalogs
Joe Frizzelle and Lyndon Cabellon of Country Club Surf Club
Dimitri Kjos and Richard Sanders of Vissla
Dale Grimes and Cara Williamson of Tyler's viewing the Fair Harbor line - Fair Harbor VP of Sales Derek Miller on the right
Fair Harbor apparel - retailers tell us good things about the brand
Eric Miura of Deja Vu Surf Shop, Christina Freberg of Lotus and Luna and Millie Okada Miura of Deja Vu
Salty Crew's CJ Hobgood and Tom Ruiz
Steve Ward has returned to the industry and is working at Haydenshapes
Nick Lhotsky and Chris Broders of Dark Seas
IMSY's Taylor Caraballo and Katie Imswiler
An IMSY bikini - we have heard good things from retailers about the brand
Paul Schmitt of PS Stix and Eben Woodall of Carver
IPD's Mark Simpson and Kim Ball of Hi-Tech
Rhythm's Marshall Graves, Carlos Cabrero and Marisel Diaz of Tres Palmas, Ashley White of Rhythm, Camila Alvarez Rivera of Tres Palmas
A Quiksilver showing
Nate Smith of Boardriders and Eric Fagan of RVCA
Dustin Odbert of ambsn and Bruce Cromartie and Dan Dodarell of BC Surf & Sport
The new Pura Vida booth built by Wise Owl Productions
Hang Loose, which is launching apparel in the U.S., attracted attention
Martin Sundblad, Ignacio Nahon, and Guadalupe Corbi of Hang Loose
Roark's Drew Dolkas and Ryan Sirianni
DJs Lena Simon and Glenn Van Dyke at the Volcom booth
Jason Shelton of Billabong, Kevin Morris of Heritage, and Aaron Quigley of VonZipper
Upscale lifestyle brand Marine Layer
Marine Layer's Andrew Graham, Henry Foote, and Brooke Jones
Dale Rhodes and Mac Beu of Katin
Palmetto Moon buying team with Surf Expo's Kathy Wilke
John Gothard of Pura Vida, Mike Loughlin of BN3TH, Bobby Abdel of Jack's and Gary Rubin
Albert Shim and Founder Pedro Roisman of Martha, which is committed to only selling to brick-and-mortar stores
Colby Bauer of Thread and Charlie Setzler, who is consulting with Party Pants
Alan Ek of Madson, Brandon Lowery of USA Surfing, Dave Nash of Sun Diego, and Trevor Reese of Thread
Eric Thuel, Martin Blanc, and Benjamin Rossillon of Salty Home, based in Paris
Salty Home products include tables and wall tide clocks
A Lakey Peterson Salty Home table
Derek Eisenkerch of Captain Fin
The Captain Fin booth
Rastaclat's Anthony Marques, Jon Crawford, and Michelle Leblanc
Rastaclat is expanding its jewelry collection
Jaime Freund and Brittany McNally of RSVLTS - we have heard good things about the brand from Glik's in the Midwest
Kevin Madden, Michelle Fernandez, and Ryann Martinez of Smkflwr
A Smkflwr T-shirt
Marisa Nicholson of OR, Sawyer Frank of Elastic and Krista Moore of OR
Kendra Hardy and Tasha Jahrmarkt of Hi Tech on Maui
Got Bag's Cameron Gadd, Case Davis and Jay Sheldon - the brand has a major environmental story and has collaborated with Outerknown, among others
Kristin Capehart of Old Naples Surf Shop, and Rick Tokars and Jillian Leeman of Brixton
Eric Carlson and Eddie Doyle of Otis with Stephen Gendron of ENDVR
Quiksilver's Paul Hoobler
Lori Daly and Sammy Duvall of Curl and Nick Girlando of G-Shock
Rene Di Cristina and Joel Cooper of Lost and Jose Gonzales of Sun Bum
Snowy Lonsway of Electric, Mike Loughlin of BN3TH, Chip Clark of Vissla and Tyler Brown of 17th Street
April Vaughn of Whale Bone, John Gothard of Pura Vida, and Kim Ball of Hi-Tech
Showing O'Neill
Jason Shelton of Billabong, Vipe Desai of SIMA, Roy Turner of Surf Expo and Melinda Simpson of SIMA
Busy Sun Bum booth
Rick Banta and Bob Rohmann of Avid
Michelle Mulhall and Coco Tihanyi of Surf Diva, and Sean Smith and Amber Rich of Elastic
John Dickinson of Flojos and John Sherwood of Globe
Watching the Rip Curl WSL Finals at the Rip Curl booth
Jerry Rogers and Nick Meistrell of Body Glove
Body Glove is expanding into sportswear
Body Glove reissued this swim style after Kim Kardashian recently wore it
Bruce Cromartie of BC Surf & Sport and Dave Rosenberger of Db bags
Db Bags
DCK Boardshorts from Portugal
A DCK Boardshort
One One Swimwear's Valentina Aristizabal, left and model Celia Florence
Saint Maddox Swim
Bogg Bags, which are hot sellers in the Midwest
Daniel Thorden of Captain Fin, Riccardo Giordano of Haydenshapes, and Danny Gillis, Scott Posner, and Derek Eisenkerch of Captain Fin
Manuel Ken and Carlos Festas Henriques of Imago Portugal
Imago fleece
Imago fleece
Puffin Drinkware
A central hangout area by Sun Bum, Thread and Pura Vida
Manhattan Beachwear had a large booth
A good crowd turned out to hear Shaun Tomson speak
A crowd at the Simbi booth
Dippin Daisys
