Skullcandy has branched into apparel and accessories with a line of fleece, beanies, hats, belts, socks and a refreshed offering of backpacks, including some that include a weatherproof audio system with controls for a phone and music player built into the straps.
Dan Levine, Skullcandy’s Chief Merchandising Officer and Executive Vice President, answered some questions about the new products.
Skullcandy, of course, is best known for its core product – headphones.
Can you give me some idea of how deep this new line of soft goods and apparel is? For example, how many different styles of hoodies are in the line? How many backpacks?
The heart and soul of Skullcandy is rooted in being a great audio accessory brand that pioneered a new point of view in electronics.
With that in mind the collection leans more heavily on the natural extensions of our strengths: hats, beanies and backpacks. T-shirts and fleece flowed directly from the art direction that brings our headphone assortment to life each season.
What stores are carrying the goods?
Our independent specialty partners have been incredibly supportive of the product launch. The willingness of the market to get behind our new categories validated this new opportunity.
Why move into soft goods?
Skullcandy is an emotionally charged brand that people want to attach themselves to. Entering into soft goods and accessories was not part of the original grand plan but from the Warped Tour to the US Open of Surfing there have been consistent requests for non-audio product. We are going to respond to the demand and will react to it accordingly. Our team has worked tirelessly to export our brand’s point of view and lifestyle into the soft goods line.
See Page 2 for more on line, including role of Stever Rapp
Is Stever Rapp helping design the new line?
Stever and his team at +Black Design work directly with our creative crew in Park City to bring our apparel collection to life. Stever’s proven talent in apparel design and professional background in music have made for a great partnership. Collaboratively we are well into designing for 2011.
Is Skullcandy going to expand its line of T’s soon?
There is always a temptation to over assort a product line. Our collection will continue to grow as we learn more from this rollout.
Are there any technical features to the softgoods?
Our vision for apparel has always been to incorporate sound into the right styles. We have a longstanding relationship with Sessions building our sound technology into their snow apparel. Out of this came a simple, clean solution for building portable speakers into Skullcandy hoodies and beanies.
There are a lot of backpack brands out there. How will Skullcandy’s stand out?
Standing out with great design and construction is part of the equation. The root of our differentiation is tied to building a wearable audio electronic platform into backpacks. We have a proven history with this technology and we are bringing a refined version to market.
Our packs have a fully amplified weatherproof sound solution so you can seamlessly control your music player and phone from your backpack straps. Not easy to build but great to have in our quiver.
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