We touched base with KR3W Global Brand Manager Brad Alband this week to get an update on how the new brand direction for KR3W is being received, and to hear about plans for Fall ’15 and KR3W’s collaboration with L1 Outerwear.
Brad comes from the snow world, so we also asked him if KR3W will expand into outerwear in the future.
KR3W debuted its new direction – Dark Americana – for Fall ’14. How was the line received?
Brad Alband: Sell-through was the strongest in years. That can be said from our skate distribution like Cowtown in Arizona to our majors across North America. We knew the brand name was still strong and resonated with the next generation of kids, but I was surprised with how quickly the positive responses started coming in.
With this new direction, what has worked and what has been a miss?
Brad Alband: Our biggest win as a brand is our ability to sell the brand name on printables and headwear again. It was over-saturated there for a while with designs targeted at a younger customer and it hurt the brand overall. We went back to making products the guys in the office want to wear and we’re putting the same stuff into all distribution channels.
Flannels, jackets, chinos and five-pocket twills round out our successes. We’re seeing re-orders on these categories and reps are happy when we get to say, “Sorry, sold out.”
Denim is still a major push for us, and looking around Agenda in January, it is also a focus for a lot of brands. But, the trends need to shift before we see it take over non-denim bottoms. Every retailer wants denim to come back. They want to push retail prices to $65-80 for quality denim, but that’s still a few seasons away I think.
Any wins you can share about gaining floor space or prebooks?
Brad Alband: We partnered up with Active starting Fall 2014 and became their No. 1 branded bottoms brand. This was a major step in the reincarnation. They’ve been partners since day one and their influence reaches far outside California as well. We saw the brand charge into a Top 10 overall brand for them during the holidays. We’re seeing and feeling the momentum.
The consistency was then rewarded in Spring and Summer 2015 with our prebooks up over 20% globally from the previous year. Most of this is coming from our core and specialty account base.
We’re moving along well at our majors, but there it’s really about accounts looking to shift their stores from some fast up/fast down streetwear, as well as moving dollars from some of the more “heritage” brands. We’re becoming a nice alternative they can rely on.
See Page 2 for new marketing programs, Brad’s interesting comments on snow and outerwear
For Fall ’15, how has the line evolved from Fall ’14.
Brad Alband: The most exciting thing to me is what we’re calling Rights Refused. It’s the home for all of our projects with artists and musicians. We’re developing quite a group of creatives to represent the brand outside of core skate with authentic ties back.
Rights Refused is giving us the opportunity to tell a new side of the brand story. We’re now working with media like Monster Children, What Youth, Juxtapoz, Vice, Desillusion, while still supporting the core with Thrasher, Transworld and King Shit.
We’ve brought Eric Dressen, Chet Childress, BB Bastidas and Richard “French” Sayer onto the program exclusively as Ambassadors. They wear KR3W and also provide artwork throughout the year that we can use for limited projects – most of the time the artwork will be promo pieces for the shop guys. Something special that can’t be bought – that you have to be down to get.
We also have an exhibition of Charles Peterson 90’s grunge photos in London next month. We’re then supporting Sketchy Tank’s art show in Encinitas at Said Space that following weekend, we’re bringing The Shrine and Electric Citizen to SIA in Denver to play a party with L1 Outerwear the week before that.
We’re basically saying this is the time to have fun, to show people what we’re into and invite them in.
Lastly, tell us about the collaboration with L1. Any plans to venture into outerwear, a world you know well?
Brad Alband: The project with L1 came about after a discussion with a longtime friend, Jon Kooley. He’s the Brand Manager at L1 and he and I previously worked together at Holden and ThirtyTwo. He came in for some jeans when he was visiting Southern California and we got to talking.
The collection we worked on for Winter 2015 is basically like the two brands looking in a mirror at each other. It was easy – we’re one in the same. A chore coat, reversible flannel and a new fit for them in a pant – the straight leg chino, which based on their feedback coming in from sales, is going to be a huge success for them.
For KR3W long-term, there’s definitely something we’re leaving out there in snow. Not in a traditional outerwear sense, but with what kids at Bear, Brighton and Loon are wearing. It’s hybrid. It’s street to hill. It’s what I feel most kids want to be able to do when they purchase a jacket. Almost every outerwear brand does a category or segment to address that kid, but from KR3W, what if we were the brand that only offered that? No backcountry imagery. No over tech. Just clean pieces that made you look and feel like you feel when walking the streets.
It’s safe to say the idea is being kicked around over beers. I’ve received calls from the right pros and ams that are looking for something new.
I mean, look at things right now in snow in 2015 – Burton and Mervin are pulling themselves from the tradeshow floor (Editor’s note: Burton will showcase its Learn to Ride program, its nonprofit, Chill, and accessories brand Anon on the show floor while Burton will show its main product stories offsite at another location in Denver), Nike is removing itself altogether from snowboarding, core shops are excited about Patagonia and North Face.
It kind of feels like it’s time for a group to get together and make things feel a little loose again doesn’t it?
