The New Roxy Swim – Local Designers, More Freedom
A Roxy boardshort for Spring ’25 incorporates the original Roxy logo. Photo by SES.
On our visits to the new licensees of Boardriders brands, we stopped by the Levy Group’s new Costa Mesa, California, office on Baker Street, which is home to Roxy swim and outerwear.
Roxy Swim VP of Sales Sasha Hartloff gave us an update on the changes to the Roxy swim line under the Levy Group as Hartloff and her team begin hitting the road to sell Spring ‘25.
One of the biggest differences that Hartloff is excited about is working closely with Roxy’s new swim designers, who are based out of the Costa Mesa office, and the ability to respond quickly to market demands. The designers work on other Levy Group swim brands as well.
Before, Roxy’s design and line planning was headquartered in France, and aimed at serving Roxy’s customers around the globe.
“It’s been amazing to have design right here with us and sitting on the other side of the building,” Hartloff said. “Now we are able to react much quicker to trends we’re seeing from the market and react to feedback from customers and reps. …We’re constantly talking with the designers, and getting them in the market with us to pop into stores to see what is happening out there.”
A textured, multi-print bottom from the back. Photo by SES.
Head Designer Austin Ware has also dived into the Roxy archives, and is incorporating those prints and even the original Roxy patch logo into some styles.
“She’s got great style, and it’s fun to see her enthusiasm and fresh perspective on the line,” Hartloff said.
Roxy Swim can also now add more colors to key styles and categories when needed, something that was difficult in the past.
“We would find that we were a little bit late reacting just because of working with the global component,” Hartloff said. “That team is wonderful over there, but there is that push and pull having to satisfy all the regions. Now we can design directly for this region.”
The Spring ’25 line includes many more color options, more textures, and some vintage Roxy prints that the designers found in the archives.
The front of the multi-colored bottom. Photo by SES.
Roxy Swim sells to a wide range of retailers, including REI, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Scheels, West Marine, Nordstrom, Macy’s, and Dillard’s, in addition to swim, surf, and fashion boutiques. There are no plans to widen beyond existing distribution, Hartloff said.
The size of the new line will allow them to segment different styles for different accounts, Hartloff said.
Another new initiative under the Levy Group is the expansion of Roxy Active swim styles.
“It’s something we have offered in the line for a while, it just hasn’t been the right formula,” she said. “There’s always was a bit of disconnect because it was designed for a European customer, and the patterns were a little dark for us. We were able to brighten it up, and we think it will do well.”
Textured Roxy tops. Photo by SES.
Another advantage compared to the centrally based, global approach before: now, Roxy Swim’s production manager is based in the Levy Group’s offices in New York.
“We are able to work faster, we have a direct line to our production manager,” Hartloff said. “If we need to improve a timeline, we can ask, and they respond right away. If we see a style selling faster than expected, we can reorder quickly….We’re getting it about 60 days earlier, and in a seasonal business like swim, that’s a big deal.”
The Levy Group also lets the creative team overdevelop the line when they are trying new styles and colors to see if it’s worth rolling out on a larger scale.
“We didn’t work that way before, we were held to a tight SKU plan,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, we still have a SKU plan. But what we are noticing is that we are able to try things that we believe in, for example, like Active Swim.”
“It’s nice, because they trust us,” she said. “They brought us on as experts in the business, and when I initially met with them, I was excited to hear that they want to invest in the business to get this brand where it should be in the marketplace.”
While there are several new elements to the line, Hartloff stressed the Roxy fits remain the same, as do many of the styles that have always been popular.
“We didn’t walk away from that, but added to the line,” she said. “There is just an updated look and feel.”
And, the Roxy Swim team is still working closely with the Roxy apparel team, even though apparel is now managed by another licensee, 2253. In fact, Hartloff is traveling with her counterpart in Roxy apparel to show the Spring lines together to some accounts who like to see the categories together.
Small vs. Large Company
Hartloff worked for Roxy and Boardriders (and, before that, Quiksilver Inc.) for many years. I asked her what’s it’s like to now be working for a smaller, more entrepreneurial company.
“I will say this – I love it,” she said. “I loved my time at Quiksilver, I was there for so long. Especially working in a smaller office now, it reminds me of the early days when you eat lunch together, or you throw fabrics on a desk and talk about different prints. It’s nice to have that smaller office environment back.”
“The transition (from Boardriders to the Levy Group,) has been massive, and like anything like that there have been bumps,” she said. “But they are supportive – for example, we went from one, then two, then three people in sales ops. When we realized we needed more help in that area, they didn’t hesitate to add those people. It’s nice to have that kind of support.”
