Paul Frank co-founder starts athletic brand

Ryan Heuser, a co-founder of Paul Frank, is launching a startup athletic brand called Athletic Recon at Agenda Long Beach in August.

Ryan, an avid triathlete and marathoner, answered some questions for us about his new venture.

Where do you see an opening in the athletic market?

Ryan Heuser

Ryan Heuser: I think there’s an incredible opportunity right now to offer a fresh perspective on branded athletic, performance apparel and ‘athleisure’ type cross over clothing for an underserved generation who don’t really identify with the mega sport brands out there and who don’t necessarily want to wear their favorite surf brand to the gym or on a run.

My intention is to be a source of incremental business to many types of retailers in this emerging category, similar to how Lululemon focused on a niche category and exploded it.

Have you previewed the line with retailers?

No. I wanted to put this out there in its pure form, for our debut collection. When you start that courting game with retailers from the outset you are allowing for the possibility of that intention to deviate from its original mission.

Ultimately I’m putting this out there because it’s a passion project and something I felt was missing at retail. I participate in endurance sports such as marathon and triathlon so I think I have an intimate knowledge of what’s truly needed at the gym and beyond.

What is the target distribution?

Athletic Recon product

The roll out strategy is to have a tiered distribution plan. I have designed our performance products to sit premium priced at boutiques that have a customer who isn’t afraid to pay for quality and to have something more specialized when it comes to their workout and casual wardrobe.

That guy is there and the offerings for him are virtually non-existent outside of big box sport retailers.

Next would be to sell in better department stores as a collection.

Then we would like the ability to segment the screen print program and more price point items to active chain stores such as surf, skate and snow specialty chains. Those kids all train for their sports.

And lastly would be to cater to the independent outdoor retailers such as REI on a major level, to the mom and pop shops that specialize in sport.

Tell me the look you are going for in the line?

The aesthetics are clean and minimal with hints of military inspirations. We use reflective ink hits, to subtle tonal overlock details, to incorporating camo.

The garments are all designed to be multifunctional. You can surf in our four-way stretch boardies or train in them and so on. There’s a definite streetwear influence when it comes to our outerwear, only we’ve flipped it and made it functional for sport or leisure. All the products have a soft hand to them and feel good on.

See Page 2 for more about Athletic Recon, including price points

From what I understand, the logo T-shirt business is a little tough right now. Can you share your strategy with the heavily branded pieces of the line?

Of course we have our logo T in the line as a means of marketing and brand awareness. However, we do not rely heavily on our logo branded items. We have equal parts apparel to T-shirt graphics.

As we mature as a brand, I’d like to be thought of as a premium resource of performance athletic apparel as opposed to a T-shirt company who makes running shorts. We will rely on our chosen fabrics and unique market positioning to tell our story at retail.

We’re best served by putting our product out there and letting the consumer make the choice for their athletic needs as opposed to being front and center with a logo T.

You’re right, no one needs another T-shirt brand. That’s not the goal.

What are the price points?

T’s range from $26 to $32,fleece ranges from $68 to $52. Sweat wicking performance tops range from $34 to $36. Running shorts are $38 to $42 with compression liners, four-way stretch boardies $54, our track pants are $68 to $70. Our rain wicking windbreakers start at $58 to $68.

Are you self-funding this project or have you brought investors on board?

We are self-financed.

How is it to work at a start up again?

Coming from a staff of well over a hundred in my former life to now just a handful, it certainly has its benefits and challenges.

It’s actually refreshing to go visit the contractors and to do the things that you become insulated from as you grow, it’s almost like taking a refresher course.

That said I still have trouble getting the fax machine to work!