The SIMA Image Awards Thursday night featured several surprises, including one brand dominating many categories and others unseating long-reigning champions.
The biggest winner of the night had to be Rip Curl, which won five of the six awards they were nominated for.
Rip Curl won for Women’s Marketing, Women’s Swim, Wetsuit, Accessory, and Boardshort of the Year. It was the third year in a row Rip Curl won in the Women’s Marketing category.
Another big winner of the night was Paul Naude of Stokehouse, which owns Vissla and Amuse Society.
Paul risked a lot of his own money to launch the brands after leaving Billabong, and while consumers seem hungry for new brands, the barriers to entry in the market are tougher than ever, with new brands needing a lot of cash, experience, creativity and staying power to make it.
Winning both Men’s Apparel Brand of the Year (Vissla) and Women’s Apparel Brand of the Year (Amuse Society), especially since the brands are so new to the market, was a big accomplishment.
Another younger brand that had a big night is Roark.
Roark does not have as much cash and experience as Stokehouse but also registers high on the creativity scale. Roark won two awards last night: Breakout Brand of the Year and Men’s Marketing Campaign of the Year.
The industry prides itself on its marketing prowess, and it has been interesting to see such a young brand with limited financial resources win in this category for three years in a row.
In several other categories, new winners emerged to unseat brands that had dominated for several years.
Reef scored a big victory in the Footwear category, winning with its new Reef Rover with Swellular Technology, a major initiative for the company. Previously, sister company Vans had won for four years in a row.
Haydenshapes unseated seven-time champ Channel Islands in the Surfboard category with its Hypto Krypto model, which was another major victory.
FCS had won the Hardgoods Accessory category for the past two years, but this year, Creatures of Leisure were victorious with their SurfEars.
Rip Curl also unseated reigning champ Stance in the Accessory category with its SearchGPS watch. Stance had previously won two years in a row.
During the evening, SIMA also honored Suncoast Surf Shop in Treasure Island, Florida, with the 2016 Gold Wave Award to commemorate its 50 years in business and Sun Diego for being the top retail fundraiser in the StokesMe campaign, which raises money for the SIMA Humanitarian Fund.
The revamped awards show, which was freshened up by Johnny Gehris and the Image Awards Committee, moved much faster. It included some nice touches like a musical performance by Carah Faye, the singer for Shiny Toy Guns, and appearances by skate legends Tony Alva, Christian Hosoi, Steve Caballero and Mike McGill.
Presenters Rosy Hodge of the WSL and GT of VonZipper also elevated the evening with a combination of class (Rosy) and fun, wacky humor (GT).
SIMA’s decision to weigh the retail vote more heavily also made an impact, and eliminated some of the curious results that have popped up in years past.
Below is the complete list of winners and we have lots of photos from the night in our slide show.
WOMEN’S MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Winner
* My Bikini Rip Curl *
Nominees
Amuse Society: Beach Vida Bling!
Billabong Women’s: A Bikini Kind of Life
O’Neill: Anna Sui for O’Neill
Stance: Rihanna x Stance
MEN’S MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Roark Revival: Volume 9, Himalayan Halfway House*
Nominees
Billabong: Life’s Better in Boardshorts
Depactus: Where Land Meets Sea
Stance: Uncommon
Vissla: Creators & Innovators
FOOTWEAR PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Reef: Reef Rover with Swellular Technology*
Nominees
OluKai: Nui
Sanuk: Yoga Sling 2 Sandal
Vans: Blackball Hi/Lo
Volcom: Recliner
ACCESSORY PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Rip Curl: Search GPS*
Nominees
GoPro: Hero4 Session
Nixon: The Ultratide
Roark Revival: Roark x CRKT “The Drifter” pocket knife
Stance: Super Invisibles (Be Invisible)
HARDGOODS ACCESSORY PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Creatures of Leisure: SurfEars*
Nominees
Channel Islands Surfboards: Channel Islands Hex Cord
FCS: FCSII Connect Tool-less Longboard Fin
Pro-Lite: Smuggler Travel Bag
Xcel: Drylock TDC Boot
WETSUIT OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Rip Curl: Flash Bomb Zip Free*
Nominees
O’Neill: Psycho Series
Patagonia: R2 Yulex/Nexkin front zip full suit
Vissla: 7 Seas Wetsuit
Xcel: Drylock TDC
SURFBOARD OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Haydenshapes: Hypto Krypto*
Nominees
Channel Islands Surfboards: Rook 15
Firewire Surfboards: EVO
Rusty Surfboards: Sista Brotha
SUPERbrand: Clay Marzo Mad Cat
BOARDSHORT OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Rip Curl: Mirage MF Driven*
Nominees
Billabong: Lo Tides
O’Neill: HyperFreak
Vissla: Skeleton Coast
Volcom: Mod-Tech
ENVIRONMENTAL PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Patagonia: R2 Yulex/Nexkin front zip full suit*
Nominees
Billabong: Billabong Recycler Series
Firewire Surfboards: TimberTek technology
Mizu: G7
Vissla: Upcycled Coconut Boardshorts
SWIM BRAND OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Rip Curl*
Nominees
Beach Riot
Billabong Women’s
L*Space by Monica Wise
Seea
MEN’S APPAREL BRAND OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Vissla*
Nominees
Billabong
Depactus
RVCA
Volcom
WOMEN’S APPAREL BRAND OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Amuse Society*
Nominees
Billabong Women’s
O’Neill
Rip Curl
Roxy
BREAKOUT BRAND OF THE YEAR
Winner
*Roark Revival*
Nominees
Amuse Society
Depactus
Otis
Sun Bum
