Have you got your surf brand cotton sheets, crockery, bathroom products window curtains, and knife set? Well, if you haven’t you can get them now! The surf industrial complex has become an even stranger beast, as if it was not before. The home textile company CHF Industries has entered into a license with Quiksilver to produce home lines for its Quiksilver and Roxy brands.This is a bailout of Quicksilver who are struggling for liquidity, as their shares have plummeted. CHF are going to buy some Quicksilver assets and provide Quicksilver Inc. with some of that desperately needed liquidity. From the press release:
“Partnering with CHF Industries allows us to further our vision of creating a complete lifestyle company,” said Steve Tully, president, wholesale, Quiksilver Americas … CHF plans to translate the surfing and boardriding culture of Roxy and Quiksilver into home by using the brands’ mountain and wave logos on products with innovative constructions and colors, said Joan Karron, executive vp, CHF.
“Complete lifestyle company”, how is that for some spin!? Shares of Quiksilver are trading below 1 U.S.D. on the New York Stock Exchange. Watch the marketing blitz telling us us how “core” they are. At least Smelly Skater’s house decorations will be complete.
The vultures are biting chunks off the carcass of “surf culture”.
I prefer to consume local hardware and clothing made of durable organic/recycled cloths and materials and made in safe union shops or by local crew. Earth-friendly, Labour-friendly, surfer friendly, and to let the vultures have “it”.
oh goody . I have been feeling so unsatisfied with my life while in between surfs . I thought i had made all the correct lifestyle choices . I mean I chose all the things that they said would make me feel whole. But Something was missing : A set of Quicksilver sheets !! Wow now I will surely be complete. I’ll bet the fitted sheet will hug my bed like a pair of flouro 80s Quickies ..yeeeah. Rockin. I wonder what the thread count is
oh my gawd . . .
its confirmed – brand managers smoke crack
If all this stuff makes us all so happy, how come so many people are depressed? It’s not rocket science. These people have forgotten how to enjoy the simple things, like simply being in the ocean.
what a silly concept–how far will it really get? i don’t even think people are in the housewares buying mood these days. and i’m not sure surf culture has been reduced to a carcass, though your metaphor fits here. surf culture(s) are alive and transforming, that’s all. hopefully kurungabaa is a testament to that, a healthy counterpoint to CHF. =)
Dina I think you are spot on in ref to surf culture(s) and their transformation(s), but as time goes on I’m bemused at how hybridized it now is and how ephemeral any claim to authenticity has really become.
It seems to me that Surfing really has very very fuzzy edges. And because of this i can only make sense of things if I squint (real hard).
No WaterRat, those depressed folk just have not bought enough stuff yet or the right stuff. If the present and future is depressing then the past is always a great place to hide: The Quicksilver bed linen is looking very 80s. I predict a retro 70s merchandise line with macrame pot holders, clip on white boy dreadies (for weekend wear only), seagrass floor matting, tie dyed pillow cases nay tie dyed everything and dream catchers. Then sink into a bean bag and watch 70s surf videos on rotation
hmmmm, surf culture as carcass…i’m rethinking that as not meaning just ‘dead’; ugly, smelly, and unappealing, perhaps, but not just dead, since carcasses and scavengers are integral to building new life. i still have to give it some time to think about what that means in practical terms. and thomas, great second point.
hey, do not knock macrame pot holders. sheesh. no respect.
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‘innovative constructions and colours’? Of sheets? I predict saltwater pre-wash for that crusty feel, mould-infused scent and embedded grains of sand around the foot area. Or what about a hyperstretch supermax neoprene duvet cover with patented seam system? You’d never have to get out of bed – or go surfing.
Ahhh, surfing! Something for everyone and keeping the dream alive. If you can’t live it, you can buy it instead – great if you’re on a tight schedule!
p.s. Ummm Thomas tie-dye is actually SO right now. No, really! And last time I checked, sea-grass was making a resurgence. What are you, like some future-trends analyst?
Yes Rebecca living in Bondi one can not escape trends analysis. The hem line of one’s board shorts is under constant surveillance by fashion police both in and out of the water.
And Clif I must admit a prejudice against macrame pot holoders as I was a total failure at making one in primary school craft class. I just couldn’t seem to work my little soft fingers around the rough thick rope. Miss Penglis was very dissapointed in me and i so wanted to fill her matronly busom with pride.
hehe “matronly bosom”
One time I wanted to win the attention of my music teacher. She drove a red MG. I put an orange in the exhaust pipe of the red MG. The blockage meant her exhaust system blew up. I got dobbed in. She stood there growling at me, and I was then promptly caned by the headmaster. It hurt, a lot. I smiled the whole time. She KNEW me now!
The modification includes a new exhaust system with two manifolds and a stainless steel Sportkatanlage, muffler with exhaust flap control unit and an exhaust valve doppelovale tailpipes in gloss black or chrome.