At the Project Show in Vegas, UNIV launched its brand globally for the first time, and also helped curate an original section dedicated to surf fashion called Threads and Fins.
I spoke with UNIV founder Tim Swart about the collaboration with Project, the global launch of its own brand and why denim and surfboards go hand in hand.
First, a little background: UNIV is a small men’s boutique located in Encinitas, California that features hard-to-get brands, its own UNIV line, exclusive sneakers, and vintage artifacts that are popular with customers who visit the 800-square-foot shop from all over the globe. (Read our profile of UNIV and see photos of the store in our previous story about the shop.)
Owner Tim Swart has a deep resume in action sports marketing and design and has also started new brands.
Tell me about the partnership with Project and what UNIV created at the show?
Tim Swart: Sal Masekela and I connected with the president of Project, Tommy Fazio, a while back. Sal’s been my best friend and surf buddy for over 15 years. He’s been a surfer for over 26 years and is a key personality at ASP and other surf events, and in the industry worldwide.
Together we have a passion for surfing with connection to fashion, so we’re able to work with both sides seamlessly. Sal’s been working with us at UNIV since it started and more so in the last year.
Project had been looking to bring surf to the show and Tommy Fazio gave us the opportunity to bring an authentic surf voice to the floor in Vegas, and we were able did some great things.
Besides hosting our own booth, we helped Project curate its own surf section and bring in brands like Katin, Mollusk and Olukai. We did a few interviews for Project about surf fashion.
For the show, we also made 12 custom, beautiful single fin surfboards for display and auction, all featuring individual art. All the boards were donated to Stoked Mentoring, a nonprofit that Sal Masekela helped found.
The partnership went great, and we will continue to work with them next year and for as long as they want to work with us.
You also had your own booth at Project?
Tim: Yes. We brought our one-man surfboat and also our mobile UNIV Work Shop shaping room and denim sewing area to Vegas, and showed the entire range. We re-created the UNIV Work Shop we have on site here in Encinitas. We made about 75 pieces for spring.
Besides showing the brand next to other fashion surf brands, the UNIV surfboards were displayed in “The Tents,” a section at Project with 30 of the top men’s fashion brands, so it was great to rub elbows with the top designers of who’s who in men’s fashion.
See Page 2 for more about UNIV’s wholesale plans
Tell me more about launching UNIV globally?
Tim: We have been selling our denim and other products to Japan for some time, as well as a few items to Australia and now Europe. We decided to take the line to other countries and markets in a bigger more formal way.
What categories are you selling?
Tim: We are selling premium denim, all made in California. We are also making wovens, knits, jackets, surf trunks, bags, backpacks, hats, accessories and, of course, t-shirts. Right now, it’s just men’s items.
Where did you design the product and did you hire more employees to sell the brand internationally?
Tim: About 90% of all the stuff is made in California. We are doing everything in house now with just a few of us, but started talking to distributors all over the world at the show. More people will be coming on for key positions soon.
What was the response like at Project?
Tim: The product was received great. We’ve been making a lot of it since our inception and our denim line has grown tremendously. We have four different fits, premium Cone Mills selvedge denim, chinos and more.
It’s made in California, and for premium denim the prices are competitive. People were excited to see surfers making a good showing with premium denim.
As for as the entire brand, we had a lot of interest from all over the world, mostly from Japan, Australia, UK, and the rest of Europe. For retailers, it’s a mix between some key iconic boutiques regionally and some major chains. It was mostly international interest, but we also showed items to some big boutiques in the U.S.
We are also executing some strategic UNIV pop-up shops in some of these areas.
This year we did a few pop-up shops in Japan, and we plan to have pop-up shops in London and Sydney before the end of the year.
Why now?
Tim: I come from a background of making stuff and building brands. I never in my life planned on being a retailer. UNIV having its own store was our introduction to our world, being by the beach, selling and curating cool and being a destination for people that know us.
Stepping out further with our products was always the goal. We just wanted to wait until the opportunity and quality of our products were substantial for the bigger push.
How does the global line affect the store in Encinitas?
Tim: The Encinitas store is now even more influential as our flagship location and the epicenter of what we do. We’re rolling out with our UNIV Work Shop on-site for making surfboards, denim, bags and anything else. There’s also our event space next to the shop, which hosts art shows, photo shows, concerts and other events.
All in all, it’s just becoming more of a destination than it’s ever been and continues to grow.
We’re serious about making denim and we are serious about making surfboards. To make the two of them in California is a lot of work and not easy, but it’s beautiful.
