Key Takeaways:
- Longer, baggier boardshorts and Y2K references emerged as major Spring 2027 themes across multiple brands.
- Texture, novelty fabrics, and surf-ready performance features are driving differentiation in both men’s and women’s product lines.
- Collaborations, sustainability stories, and faster-turn production strategies are helping brands stand out and reduce retail risk.
Carv Expo, the industry’s newest trade show, was back in San Diego May 14-15, for the second year running. Shop Eat Surf Outdoor spoke to a wide range of brands about what’s coming for Spring 2027 and what, if any, macro-trends they’re seeing.
Quiksilver
Quiksilver’s Benny Bigler. Photo by SESO.
Quiksilver – Benny Bigler: “Length is big right now, early 2000s-style boardshort lengths. Big embroidery. These (on the wall) are all 21-inch outseams. We’re selling a lot more waists from 29 to 32 inches. And we have a Young Guns capsule — also a throwback to the early 2000s movie series.
“The youth were buying vintage stuff online. We have the Mercury and Saturn collections from a few years ago (with longer lengths). They weren’t taking off right away, but I’m glad we stayed with it.”
What else is trending: Plaid, bringing in whites, camo and details like embroidery and mesh.
Rhythm
Rhythm’s Jacob Byrne, Nicolette Moghadam and Natalie Fontes. Photo by SESO.
Rhythm – Jacob Byrne: “Like all Rhythm products, you’re going to see really good modifications on textures and fabrics, which is what we’re known for… and something we’ve always put a lot of care into. The women’s line is like no other.
“For menswear, it’s quite contemporary. Everyone’s wearing a similar outfit at the moment. It’s not super loud fashion, it’s quiet, in a sense. If you can get, say, a new woven shirt that has a new texture, it’s the point of difference and there’s a point to having it. Why do you need eight cotton or linen T-shirts? We want people to feel that they need this in their wardrobe, that they haven’t seen it before, but it’s still very wearable. It will tick that daily outfit box, but also give them a reason to have it in their wardrobe.”
What’s trending: For women: checked patterns, muted tones, lace, and beading detail. For men: checked shirts and shorts.
Also: In terms of business strategy, wholesalers can make purchases with less lead time. Rhythm has production facilities that allow them to produce quickly. That advantage can, ultimately, help retailers reduce risk.
Hurley
Hurley’s Eric Pierce and Michelle LeBlanc. Photo by SESO.
Hurley women’s – Michelle LeBlanc: “One thing that’s big in our new collection is we’re doing a collab with Cynthia Rowley. She really surfs and has a surf camp in Montauk every year. She wanted things that you can move in and surf in, that are technical, and we have a capsule we do every season that’s our Max fabrication, which is quick-dry, high coverage, low piling and has compression. The tops have stabilizers that keep you from bouncing, and power mesh on the sides. Even the cups are quick-dry, perforated, and lighter. The material is from recycled material.
“Cynthia was looking for a brand that had the technical fabrication and the silhouettes that were actually made for surfing or even running around with your kids on the beach, that’s functional. She was part of the design; it looks a little bit separate from the rest of what we’re doing. We wanted it to be true to that.”
What’s trending: Crochet, matching sets, textured swimwear, from woven to scrunched materials and microribs, which help a print pop, and surf suits.
Hurley men’s – Eric Pierce: “In 2027, specifically, we’re focused back on athletes. We’re building a product that’s commercialized, but making sure that it performs for our marquee athletes. We’re reintroducing the Phantom boardshort in a new way, as Phantom Max, our new fabrication. It’s a fabric innovation, with Hydromax Yarn: we’re using a hydrophobic, nylon fabrication that dries twice as fast as conventional boardshorts. It’s a lightweight, four-way stretch nylon with bonded construction.
“The other thing about this fabric is that it’s made of recycled oyster shells and seaweed fibers. It’s taking our ‘born from water’ ethos and pulling it through on the innovation piece. This is your top-tier, bonded, no-chafe no-seaming short. If you’re going on a surf trip, this is the short you want. A lot of our athletes, if they’re surfing Snapper Rocks, they get a wave and then they’re running up the point. This is athlete-tested, athlete-proven — there’s no chafe.
“For a performance-innovation vehicle, 20-inch seemed like the right length. That was the insight from our athletes. They wanted something that might look a little more old-school, but not hinder their performance.
“We also brought it into a (lower-priced) commercial vehicle. It’s still the Phantom Max story, but it’s your sewn version.
What’s trending: We were inspired by Indonesian print themes. There’s camo, with earthy colors, as well as blues and grays, among other colorways.
Rusty
Rusty’s Reid Watanabe, Kanin Lewbel, Katya Cepeda, Aaron Griffiths. Photo by SESO.
Rusty – Aaron Griffiths: “We do a normal four-line season and then we do four drops from what we call the Rusty Experimental Division: it’s a fast-fashion version of Rusty that lets us keep up with the trends. We’re still doing that as a whole program in surf, our goal is to be on-trend with the majority of our line. We don’t do basics, so to speak. That’s why it’s a small line.
“Some of the stuff we do really well is like this: a cut-and-sew T-shirt, in men’s, this is my best-selling style. In women’s you’ll see it in a slightly different style. Women are starting to gravitate toward that. They were doing it in a baby tee, we’re starting to see girls go back to the oversize version. They’re still wearing oversize bottoms, but we’re now also doing pants that are fitted with a flare, like a bell bottom, as well as mini skirts. There’s also a suited piece.”
“We’re trying to be specific. We picked our lane and, fortunately, it’s working. Age 15 to 25 is what our industry is missing, and that’s what we’re bringing. That’s our customer.”
What’s trending: Y2K, all day. Long boardshorts — best-sellers are 22 to 24 inches. Kids are into analog stuff, seeing older styles, and wanting to express themselves that way.
Steko
Steko’s Kolohe Andino, Riley Shiroke, Makai Bray. Photo by SESO.
Steko – Kolohe Andino: “There was a gap in the market, no one was doing cool stuff for the kids. We’re trying to do authentic surf stuff for the youth. Me, personally, I think the ‘90s thing is getting played out. We’re phasing back a little bit on it. We’re all from San Clemente and have a lot of young riders. The ‘90s thing is fading out a little bit among the kids.
“We have a lot of color. It’s been fun. And we’re doing an elevated “Search”-type movie this year that contrasts the low-fi ‘90s stuff. We filmed in Mexico, Indonesia, Hawaii.
“The brand is pronounced ‘stay-koh,’ is actually a Greek term that means ‘to stand firm.’ It’s a meaningful word for me because I feel like the surf industry is pretty homogenized and outdated. I said, ‘Someone’s gotta do it (start a new type of brand).’”
What’s trending: ‘90s style is phasing out. Girls are wearing boxier, men’s silhouettes.
Free Fly
Free Fly’s Zach Misler and Mike Reilly with Richard O’Reilly of Sypder Surf Shop. Photo by SESO.
Free Fly Apparel – Zach Misler: “The big story (for us) is bamboo. A huge percentage of our apparel has bamboo viscose to it, so it’s super-soft. It’s moisture-wicking, anti-microbial. It was started by Tanner Sutton, who’s a fly-fishing guy in South Carolina, where it’s hot and sweaty. Back then the options were the UPF stuff that was not breathable or it was super-breathable and you’d get burnt or wind-chapped.
“Tanner wanted something that worked better on the water but also would look decent to go straight to the brewery after and talk about all the fish. In Spring 2027 we’re coming out with a revamped, hooded long-sleeved shirt. The collar can sit comfortably below the chin or above. A lot of the big push coming is in California lifestyle and surf specifically, so we’ll have surf and swim pieces for men’s and women’s. Free Fly is a massive company on the East Coast and the South, and they’re slowly moving their way here.
“We now are offering some options that are hoodless, some classier options that work on the golf course, workout-ready pieces, and loungewear. We’re growing into lifestyle, with more emphasis on the graphics. And for our women’s lines, we have a female design team. We don’t just make a smaller version of menswear, but different cuts and even mommy-and-me, daddy-and-me, and children’s pieces.”
What’s trending: Anything with a story. If people are going to spend money, they want it to be attached to a story. For us, we maintain sustainability, durability, and softness across every line.
Brixton
Brixton’s Kevin Casillo. Photo by SESO.
Brixton – Kevin Casillo: “Brixton has always been a strong fall/winter brand, so for this Spring season, we’ve tried to become more of a resource for spring and summer. We did boardshorts, we launched a new collection called The Journey, which is our version of performance. It’s for our skaters who skate out in the outdoors and our surfers who are adventuring…and go camping, too. It’s a collection that looks Brixton but has performance attributes.
“For us, it’s ‘How do we have an aesthetic that fits more the vintage-inspired look?’ It’s for that Brixton consumer that goes outdoors…and still wants to have all the performance without sacrificing style.”
What’s trending: Straw hats: everything from a true cowboy straw to bucket hats. Collaborations with Americana-style brands like Goodyear. Summer came early this year; Brixton’s short program, including boy shorts for women, is doing well.
Salty Crew
The Salty Crew crew with the T&C Surf buying team from Hawaii. Photo by SESO.
Salty Crew – Jason Shelton: “In Spring 2027, we’re doing another drop of our Boston Whaler collection. Boston Whaler is one of the most-known boat brands, ever. It started back in ‘50s, and they’re known as the unsinkable boat. A lot of people who fish, their first boat was the Boston Whaler. Our dream was to do a collab with those guys (drop one was Thursday, May 14 – see SESO story here).
“Usually each season we’ll do one big brand collaboration. Fishing isn’t on-brand for a lot of the people here, but we have the fish DNA.
“We think of surfing or fishing, on boat, our product revolved around that. Whether it’s sun protection, we have these boat shorts: what makes it a boat short is it’ll have a plier pocket with a magnetic closure. These shorts have our flag (in the design). Most of our wovens are all UPF 50. Like a sun-protection shirt with a hood. We have a nice layering piece, a super-soft hoodie but we put it in our sun-protection range.”
Goodr
Goodr’s Alex Fry, Ashley Moskios, Scott Forrestall, Hanssie Ho. Photo by SESO.
Goodr – Scott Forrestall: “As far as trends go, we’re seeing a return to neutral colors. And as far as the market trends go, we’re exploding everywhere so it’s hard to say. It’s a good problem to have. We’re dropping a new style or color every month. We do some small drops, or we bring out a new colorway. We did a collab with Masters of the Universe (last week). We also did a collab with Major League Baseball.
“For next year, we have a few things coming at a higher price point. We’re leaning more into performance. But our bread and butter are our classics. The past two years we expanded into Target, DSW, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. But DTC is still our biggest single channel.”
What’s trending: In terms of goodr, we’re at a very low price point with all the function of a higher one, but with more fun and vibrance.
Aloha Collection
Aloha Collection’s Sydney Du, Jen Pearson, Matt Davis, Alana Pedro, Darci Gouin and Rod Tomlinson of Surf Expo. Photo by SESO.
Aloha Collection – Jen Pearson: “For our Spring 2027 collection, it’s our annual Aloha Abroad. This year we’re going to the South of France, but beach club edition. The founders love beach clubs, from France to Greece to Spain. And our designers had a fun inspiration session to do our own take on the beach club. Instead of traditional stripes you’d see on a beach umbrella, you get the stripes on the back of (an Aloha piece), or add a stripe with hibiscus. We also have quilted totes with rope handles and beautiful embroidery. Elsewhere, we have a print inspired by a sunroom, with the window open.
“Next spring we’ll also have a collab with Rylee and Cru. They all have mommy-and-me styles, so we’ll have coordinating swimwear (with our bags), and boys’ trunks. A lot of moms use our dopp kits for diapers and makeup on the go. We also have a collab with DaFiN Hawaii, the swim fin brand, including a mesh dive bag and a matching waist pack.
“The brand’s founders are native Hawaiian. So next month we’re launching our foundation, which will donate a percentage of profits to Hawaiian island conservation, from food sovereignty to farmland.”
RVCA Accessories
RVCA’s Rudy Vasquez, Maureen Geary. Photo by SESO.
RVCA accessories – Rudy Vasquez: “At RVCA, there’s a collaboration between the apparel and their star players: their prints, patterns, (that we have) implemented into the bags. Our tried and true is our trucker, and The Platform, which has our logo. With RVCA, there’s still a learning curve with our young consumer, including not knowing how to pronounce our name. It also wasn’t distributed as widely, so for us, it’s been easy to communicate to people still discovering the brand.
“Hawaii is our most prominent region (for sales). You’re seeing a lot of Hawaii-inspired headwear. We started as more of a SMU, making sure there was something for tourists to have a piece of the brand, but also the experience of being in Hawaii. It’s for the island guys and inspired by the core of the brand, but it’s something that the tourist can also walk away with.
“We also have the ANP, the Artist Network Program (featured on upcoming hats). As the brand was being built, it’s celebrated artists like Ed Templeton. That will always be something unique and different for us, that’s different from our competition. (A Spring 2027 hat) will feature the ANP.
“We’ll be introducing sandals, across men’s and women’s. And we’re making sure that we’re putting back into it; we need a reason for the consumer to come back for it. Overall, we pull the brand through each collection. When we see a T-shirt’s performing, for example, we make sure we read it into the hat and vice versa.”
What’s trending: Totes, carry-sacks, waist packs. Alternative carriers for trinkets, phones, and anything else.
Jetty
Sisstr’s Carrie Piccolini visiting with Jetty’s Paul Harvey, Dustin Henry, and Jimmy Schulte. Photo by SESO.
Jetty – Paul Harvey “Longer boardshorts are doing really well, especially on the West Coast. We’ve offered more of those than previously. On the women’s side, we’re offering a more balanced collection of beach-lifestyle products. We’ve got new color-story collections that will merge well, and will be expanding on winners.
“Our product looks different from the competition, because we’re based out of the East Coast. When customers shop, they don’t care where a brand is from, but we definitely don’t want to look like everyone else. The problem with the industry for a few years is that we all look kind of the same. We’re all doing the same trends and looking to the same brands for inspiration.
“Now, I think people are doing a lot of different things, which is exciting.”
Katin
Katin’s Tay Neeld, Jason Rodriguez, Olivia Romero and Ryan Romero. Photo by SESO.
Katin – Ryan Romero: “Like everybody, we’re seeing a resurgence of the ‘90s and early aughts. We’re very lucky that we have a catalogue to go back to, because the brand started in 1954. Jason is able to pull the retro styles we did 25 years ago.”
Katin – Jason Rodriguez: “They’re all replicas of trunks Katin has already done. It’s been fun to look in the archives and pull things forward and have a purpose, rather than just being a trend. That was a way for us to do it and be authentic.
“The things I paid attention to were fabrication, construction. That was all updated to modern standards. But as far as the look and the lengths and the fit, it’s all Y2K: longer, baggier. All the panels and piping, even down to the trims and the labels, are all pulled from the originals.
“We have several demographics. Our biggest is 24-37. Our next biggest is that to age 45. But we have anything from a grandpa to a middle-schooler. Which is crazy to design for. But that’s why it’s so cool for us, because we can go back into all those eras and pull things forward as needed to stay on trend and still be true to the brand.”
What’s trending: Longer, baggier shorts. Relaxed fits. Since we’re coming out of the slim/skinny era, the natural progression is to go to the complete opposite. And then we’ll meet in the middle again.
Nixon
Nixon’s Crystal Jannuzzi. Photo by SESO.
Nixon – Crystal Jannuzzi: “Overall, more vintage. Smaller watches. Even our smaller women’s watch, the Frankie, surprisingly, a lot of men are wearing it. That was a lot of the feedback; anything we start to make, we’ll run by all the athletes we sponsor. We get their opinions, what they think of it, can they skate in it? Can they surf in it? They have a lot of input on design. And one of the biggest things was smaller watches.
“We’re still going to have our classics, those will be the typical size, but we’ve gravitated a little bit more toward the smaller watch. People (see watches) as heirlooms that you can hand down, and something that’s a special gift and a statement piece.”
What’s trending: Smaller, vintage. Women’s watches that are surf-ready and statement pieces.
Slowtide
Slowtide’s Emily Raine, Summer Striler, Kelly Zies, Kyle Spencer. Photo by SESO.
Slowtide – Kyle Spencer: “For Spring 2027, we’re doing a collab with Mason Ho. We did a fun, trippy print (for a towel). Kind of Hendrix-inspired, tie-dye. We’re also launching a collab with Florence Marine in a few weeks with a packable, quick-dry towel (that’s launching soon). In Spring, there’s the packable blanket. It’s water-resistant and has padding for you to sit on.
“And then we have a Realtree collaboration for the camo, and a Mossy Oak print that’s coming out. We’re doing cool collaborations, new patterns. We have a whole Mossy Oak collection coming out, with a changing parka, a poncho, and a pouch. I’ve always loved camo. Realtree and Mossy Oak are the OGs, so (I thought), let’s just go to the source.”
What’s trending: Some of the emerging brands are coming out, Florence is doing well. The big brands are evolving and changing. There are a lot of collaborations, and brands making better products with better materials. Overall in surf, people are willing to spend more on more sustainable, elevated products.
