A new brand launched by an industry sales veteran debuted at Surf Expo and will land in stores and online soon.
Psycho Tuna is aiming to reach the surf, fish and boutique markets. It’s the brainchild of Patricia Thornton and her boss at denim manufacturer Ring of Fire, Eran Bitton.
Patricia most recently spent nearly 10 years at Maui & Sons and helped revive that brand at core surf stores and high-profile accounts like PacSun.
Now she’s working at Ring of Fire, which makes both private label and branded denim for large retailers such as Macy’s and has a lot of apparel expertise. She’s also helping to develop a private label denim business for surf shops.
Her boss saw how passionate she is about the industry and asked if she wanted to partner on a new brand.
Psycho Tuna Swim
The Psycho Tuna name plays off the Hot Tuna brand from the 1980s.
Patricia is a long-time surfer, so she wanted the brand to cover the surf market. The Ring of Fire VP of Development is an accomplished bass fisherman, so that’s where the fishing element comes in.
Right now, Psycho Tuna focuses on volleys, boardshorts, T’s, and hoodies. For Fall 2020, twill joggers and jackets will debut. The company is using recycled fabrics and organic cotton in some products, and all the graphics are hand drawn.
A boys line is also in the works, and she hopes if all goes well they can launch a women’s line in Spring 2021.
Patricia wants the brand to grow organically and plans to keep it out of big box accounts.
So far, accounts that have placed orders for Psycho Tuna include Jack’s, Sun Diego, B&B South in New Jersey, Sunrise Surf Shop in Florida, Makin’ Waves in the Bahamas, Déjà Vu Surf in Hawaii, and Kamea Meha in Puerto Rico.
