Surf Expo got underway Thursday in Orlando and it felt the closest to pre-pandemic times than any trade show we have attended since Covid arrived on the scene.
Nearly every surf brand returned to the show, which also featured lots of new brands as well. And we came across a wide variety of retailers, ranging from department store Dillard’s, which is based in the Midwest, to the Déjà Vu Surf Shop from Kauai.
Below are photos from the show floor from Thursday and Friday.
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Shaun Tomson with the special booth Surf Expo created for him
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Kiki Prince and Sasha Hartloff with Roxy's new collaboration with Kate Bosworth that celebrates the 20th anniversary of "Blue Crush"
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Cory Higgins of Jetty with Karen Klimkiewicz, the new GMM at Ron Jon. Cory and Karen grew up together in Jersey.
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Kaylee Fisher and Dayna Cottee of Roark wearing the new women's line
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Dayna Cottee of Roark with the new Roark Women's Passport jacket
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A Roark Women's twinset
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Matt Keenan of BN3TH and Ciara Orrell of 17th Street
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Snowy Lonsway, who has returned to Electric, and Brent Lantz of Volcom. It was great to see Volcom back at the show.
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Two former world champions watching the Rip Curl WSL Finals - Shaun Tomson and PT
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Mike Reilly of Quiksilver and Bill Dreibelbis of Quiet Storm
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Quiksilver had monitors in booths showcasting the Elastic B2B platform to encourage less use of printed catalogs
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Joe Frizzelle and Lyndon Cabellon of Country Club Surf Club
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Dimitri Kjos and Richard Sanders of Vissla
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Dale Grimes and Cara Williamson of Tyler's viewing the Fair Harbor line - Fair Harbor VP of Sales Derek Miller on the right
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Fair Harbor apparel - retailers tell us good things about the brand
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Eric Miura of Deja Vu Surf Shop, Christina Freberg of Lotus and Luna and Millie Okada Miura of Deja Vu
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Salty Crew's CJ Hobgood and Tom Ruiz
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Steve Ward has returned to the industry and is working at Haydenshapes
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Nick Lhotsky and Chris Broders of Dark Seas
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IMSY's Taylor Caraballo and Katie Imswiler
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An IMSY bikini - we have heard good things from retailers about the brand
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Paul Schmitt of PS Stix and Eben Woodall of Carver
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IPD's Mark Simpson and Kim Ball of Hi-Tech
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Rhythm's Marshall Graves, Carlos Cabrero and Marisel Diaz of Tres Palmas, Ashley White of Rhythm, Camila Alvarez Rivera of Tres Palmas
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A Quiksilver showing
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Nate Smith of Boardriders and Eric Fagan of RVCA
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Dustin Odbert of ambsn and Bruce Cromartie and Dan Dodarell of BC Surf & Sport
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The new Pura Vida booth built by Wise Owl Productions
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Hang Loose, which is launching apparel in the U.S., attracted attention
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Martin Sundblad, Ignacio Nahon, and Guadalupe Corbi of Hang Loose
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Roark's Drew Dolkas and Ryan Sirianni
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DJs Lena Simon and Glenn Van Dyke at the Volcom booth
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Jason Shelton of Billabong, Kevin Morris of Heritage, and Aaron Quigley of VonZipper
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Upscale lifestyle brand Marine Layer
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Marine Layer's Andrew Graham, Henry Foote, and Brooke Jones
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Dale Rhodes and Mac Beu of Katin
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Palmetto Moon buying team with Surf Expo's Kathy Wilke
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John Gothard of Pura Vida, Mike Loughlin of BN3TH, Bobby Abdel of Jack's and Gary Rubin
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Albert Shim and Founder Pedro Roisman of Martha, which is committed to only selling to brick-and-mortar stores
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Colby Bauer of Thread and Charlie Setzler, who is consulting with Party Pants
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Alan Ek of Madson, Brandon Lowery of USA Surfing, Dave Nash of Sun Diego, and Trevor Reese of Thread
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Eric Thuel, Martin Blanc, and Benjamin Rossillon of Salty Home, based in Paris
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Salty Home products include tables and wall tide clocks
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A Lakey Peterson Salty Home table
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Derek Eisenkerch of Captain Fin
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The Captain Fin booth
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Rastaclat's Anthony Marques, Jon Crawford, and Michelle Leblanc
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Rastaclat is expanding its jewelry collection
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Jaime Freund and Brittany McNally of RSVLTS - we have heard good things about the brand from Glik's in the Midwest
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Kevin Madden, Michelle Fernandez, and Ryann Martinez of Smkflwr
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A Smkflwr T-shirt
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Marisa Nicholson of OR, Sawyer Frank of Elastic and Krista Moore of OR
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Kendra Hardy and Tasha Jahrmarkt of Hi Tech on Maui
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Got Bag's Cameron Gadd, Case Davis and Jay Sheldon - the brand has a major environmental story and has collaborated with Outerknown, among others
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Kristin Capehart of Old Naples Surf Shop, and Rick Tokars and Jillian Leeman of Brixton
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Eric Carlson and Eddie Doyle of Otis with Stephen Gendron of ENDVR
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Quiksilver's Paul Hoobler
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Lori Daly and Sammy Duvall of Curl and Nick Girlando of G-Shock
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Rene Di Cristina and Joel Cooper of Lost and Jose Gonzales of Sun Bum
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Snowy Lonsway of Electric, Mike Loughlin of BN3TH, Chip Clark of Vissla and Tyler Brown of 17th Street
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April Vaughn of Whale Bone, John Gothard of Pura Vida, and Kim Ball of Hi-Tech
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Showing O'Neill
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Jason Shelton of Billabong, Vipe Desai of SIMA, Roy Turner of Surf Expo and Melinda Simpson of SIMA
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Busy Sun Bum booth
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Rick Banta and Bob Rohmann of Avid
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Michelle Mulhall and Coco Tihanyi of Surf Diva, and Sean Smith and Amber Rich of Elastic
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John Dickinson of Flojos and John Sherwood of Globe
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Watching the Rip Curl WSL Finals at the Rip Curl booth
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Jerry Rogers and Nick Meistrell of Body Glove
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Body Glove is expanding into sportswear
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Body Glove reissued this swim style after Kim Kardashian recently wore it
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Bruce Cromartie of BC Surf & Sport and Dave Rosenberger of Db bags
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Db Bags
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DCK Boardshorts from Portugal
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A DCK Boardshort
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One One Swimwear's Valentina Aristizabal, left and model Celia Florence
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Saint Maddox Swim
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Bogg Bags, which are hot sellers in the Midwest
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Daniel Thorden of Captain Fin, Riccardo Giordano of Haydenshapes, and Danny Gillis, Scott Posner, and Derek Eisenkerch of Captain Fin
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Manuel Ken and Carlos Festas Henriques of Imago Portugal
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Imago fleece
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Imago fleece
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Puffin Drinkware
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A central hangout area by Sun Bum, Thread and Pura Vida
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Manhattan Beachwear had a large booth
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A good crowd turned out to hear Shaun Tomson speak
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A crowd at the Simbi booth
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Dippin Daisys