• 

  Swim is the most important RVCA Women's story for Spring '17 - Photo courtesy of RVCA

• 

  RVCA's swim line is growing rapidly - Photo courtesy of RVCA

As RVCA Women’s prepares for Spring ’17, we spoke with their team to learn what to look forward to for the Women’s brand.

Swim will be a top priority for RVCA Women’s for Spring ’17 and Eric Thomas, VP of Sales; Anna Sherwood, Women’s Marketing; and Kelly Poore, Director of Merchandising, shared more about this focus and other key categories for the brand.

What’s new for spring?

Kelly Poore:  Our artist stories remain the cornerstone of each seasonal collection, with ANP artist Kelsey Brookes at the forefront of the Spring season, supported by swim, tees and accessories. 

Also for spring, we have a dedicated swim campaign to support our unique point of view in the category.  We developed a new approach to the category that will differentiate our product through updated styling details, prints and color.

What is the most important product story for spring?

Kelly Poore:  Swim.  RVCA swim, built upon the foundation of the brand’s ethos “the balance of opposites,” is a collection designed to allow the RVCA woman to express her personal style in and out of the water.

In a sea of beachy, bohemian swimwear brands, RVCA steps outside of traditional swimwear styling. Bringing a little downtown aesthetic into the coastal street lifestyle; RVCA swim is an assortment of bikini separates featuring high quality Italian tricot.  Showcasing featured ANP artwork and a balance of prints and solids that invite you to mix and match to create your own signature look.

Each season takes shape by drawing inspiration from our featured artists and advocates and their lives.

How will you market it?

Anna Sherwood:  We will be bringing our swim campaign concept to life via co-ed brand experiences in key markets, aligned with key cultural events, during the spring and summer swim season, showing our commitment to bikinis and trunks while immersing consumers and retailers in the unique culture of the RVCA brand.

RVCA’s advocates and artists, along with social influencers, digital media and like-minded brand partners will be the catalyst to spread awareness.

What was the biggest hit of last season?

Eric Thomas:  We’ve seen huge growth in our dress and romper business.  We are bucking the trends at retail and seeing substantial growth across all of our categories.  It is so exciting to see the growth coming from every retail channel, across multiple categories, in every region. 

Anything else new with business?

Eric Thomas:  We are putting more emphasis on accessories and have a great Kelsey Brooks Accessory story to tie into the Kelsey swim pieces.

Our major focus for Spring ‘17 is existing core account growth.  We have so much room to grow in the core action sports space and that is where we are going to make our play. 

We are really building momentum and have a lot of growth opportunity, not only in our backyard, but across the country.  Florida, Mid Atlantic, Jersey and the Midwest are our fastest growing women’s territories.  Where retailers offer RVCA Women’s more space, we exceed expectations.