• 

  Alek Parker

Insight has new owners, a new leadership team and new global headquarters in Venice, Calif.

The brand had a booth at Agenda, but did not show any new styles at the show. Instead, the team wanted to communicate the changes to retailers and others there, said Marketing Director Alek Parker.

Insight will be showing new lines in Las Vegas, however.

Insight had a lot of buzz in the U.S. several years ago and was known for its forward fashion and marketing approach.

However, the brand had several financial stumbles globally, and in the U.S., was never able to translate the buzz into meaningful sales.

The Bleach Group, the corporate entity for Insight, Ksubi and Something Else went into voluntary administration in Australia, somewhat similar to bankruptcy reorganization in the U.S.

The new owner of Insight and Ksubi is Los Angeles based Breakwater Investment Management, a private equity firm.

Now that the brand is based in the U.S., it will allow Insight to create styles that resonate here while still retaining a fashion influence, Alek said. The styles before were often too forward for the U.S. market, he said.

Going forward marketing and design will all be handled in house in Venice.

The U.S. Insight team has been in place two weeks and includes Director of Sales Purdom Thomas, formerly of The People’s Movement and Ksubi; Director of Operations Larry Castro, who has worked at Insight for several years in different roles; and Alek, a surfer for O’Neill for 16 years and a current Sanuk ambassador.

I asked Alek if there was worry about any fatigue that may be in the market from Insight’s starts and stops over the years.

He said the new team is here to show that with the brand being headquartered in the U.S. now, it will have responsibility over design and marketing rather than being totally dependent on Australia.

Insight will stay in touch with its heritage but will also have new creative and new art direction with a heavy social presence, and will continue to focus on surf, skate, art and music, he said.