Stokehouse Unlimited, the owner of Vissla, Amuse Society, and Sisstr, is making a renewed push with its Sisstr brand with a new logo, new talent in design and marketing, and a new sales and marketing leader, Carrie Piccolini.
Last week, the brand launched its Summer ’26 line, designed by Allison Roberts, the former longtime Billabong Women’s creative director, with a special event for retail accounts, athletes, and friends of the brand at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano. The party included a sound bath, music, cocktails, dinner, and custom flower arrangements for guests. Ryder Biolos painted a surfboard in one of Sisstr’s summer prints and Hansen’s Surf co-owner and Buyer Heidi Hansen Garvey got to take the board home.
“I think the timing for Sisstr to re-launch and make a splash in the retail space could not be better,” Piccolini said. “The product is beautiful and fresh; and sportswear has fun wearable pieces and flattering silhouettes. Swim has great prints and solids. Having Sisstr wetsuits to tie back to the collections adds a fresh look to wetsuits that makes us stand out.”
Stokehouse CEO Paul Naude said the restructuring of Sisstr started over a year ago with the introduction of a new logo and the addition of new talent in design and marketing.
“The Spring ‘25 season introduced the start of those changes in the market,” he said. “We’ve had a strong year with good increases in our account base and online and we expect to end 2025 with sales almost doubling over ‘24. Forward bookings for 2026 continue to show significant increases and we look forward to having continued strong momentum as we move forward.”
For Piccolini, the takeaway from the evening was the power of community in the surf industry.
“It was great to share ideas and laughs,” she said. “So much of the time we are stuck in the trenches of everyday business and focusing on tariffs, rising costs, and so on, it was nice to take time and remember why we all do what we do.
“We work in an incredible industry with interesting and passionate people,” she added “We get to do every day what some people only dream of doing. It was nice to sit around a table in the garden and take it all in for a moment.”
