Image is everything

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

Tom ServaisRip Curl took home best wetsuit honors for their Flashbomb, and for good reason, the suit's toasty warm.

"You'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy." Obi-Wan Kenobi may not have been at the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) Image Awards, but his words seemed somehow apropo.

Held at The Grove in Anaheim, Calif., heads of the surf industry gathered on Thursday evening to pat themselves on the back and revel in a beatific year of marketing, product production, and bro shakes. Beanies, well manicured mustaches and skinny jeans were in abundance. Art directors and wetsuit designers were celebrated as heroes on a stage normally reserved for notable musicians and big-wave heroes. CEOs and heads of companies hailed their creativity. Lisa Andersen, Peter "PT" Townend and a couple other actual, real-life surfers dotted the foyer. It was a little like the Star Wars' bar, just for hipsters instead of aliens ... and not nearly as interesting.

The irony of "surf industry manufacturers" congregating to give other "surf industry manufacturers" awards was not lost on anybody smart enough to avoid the taco truck out front. Typically this show of SIMA pageantry takes place at their yearly summit in Cabo -- a traditionally tequila-soaked affair that most have trouble recollecting come the following morning. But in an effort to garner more eyeballs and elevate the cool-guy factor, SIMA organizers opted to move north to Orange County. At night's end it seemed like everybody left a winner ... or at least those that avoided the taco truck.

Tom ServaisThe always effervescent Lisa Andersen.

Billabong, Quiksilver, Hurley, Rip Curl, Vans, Channel Islands, all the major brands (save Volcom) were represented at one time or another at the podium. RVCA (owned by Billabong) was named Men's Apparel Brand of the Year. Hurley's 4D Phantom trunks were hoisted up as the Boardshort of the Year. Rip Curl's Flashbomb took Wetsuit of the Year. And Conner Coffin's signature Channel Islands model, the Fred Rubble, won Surfboard of the Year. Predictable? You bet. But in an industry made up of only half a dozen real power players, what did you expect?

In a nod to said theme, whoever got on stage from Maui Nix to receive their "Breakthrough Retailer of the Year" award, sarcastically noted, "It only took 20 years." The shop was founded in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in 1989.

Breakthrough? Sounds more like a sustainable business in a state riff with economic turmoil. But such are things when "Winners are determined by a final vote open to all SIMA member companies."

Why so critical? It may have been that I simply had Laird Hamilton's distain for the industry still bouncing around inside my head after a day of transcribing an interview with him, but I don't think so. Going to the show felt an awful lot like high school. It felt cliquey. It felt like when you go into a surf shop and the 16-year-old grommet behind the counter vibes you because you need a bar of wax. Where's the aloha, man? Somewhere along the line surfing traded its grit for glitz, and that ain't cool.

Tom ServaisHurley seems to have a lock on boardshorts lately, the Phantom 4D is the latest in a line of successes for the brand.

Surfing's not about $800 surfboards or $100 boardshorts ... even if the marketers try and convince you otherwise. It's not about who wins "Hardgoods Accessory Product of the Year." Frankly, nobody but the 800 people that gathered at The Grove on Thursday night care. Surfing's always carried huge anti-establishment undertones, and with most brands being publicly traded entities, the surf industry is looking about as establishment as it gets. Roots people, lets not forget where we came from.

As I was leaving a friend stopped me and asked, "What are you doing here? You're not actually going to write a story about this are you?"

I just did. And by the way, maybe next year SIMA could include a couple photographers, filmers and writers in their awards ... after all, without images, plot lines and media outlets they can't, as a sagely editor once said, "sell the myth of perfection."

2012 SIMA Image Awards:
Surfboard of the Year: Fred Rubble by Channel Islands Surfboards
Wetsuit of the Year: FLASHBOMB by Rip Curl
Men's Apparel Brand of the Year: RVCA
Men's Boardshort of the Year: Phantom 4D by Hurley
Accessory Product of the Year: The FIX by Skullcandy
Environmental Product of the Year: Recycled Boardshort Series by Billabong
Footwear Product of the Year: Surfsider by Vans
Hardgoods Accessory Product of the Year: Cypher PS+ Heat Vest System by Quiksilver
Men's Marketing Campaign of the Year: "Kelly Slater 10x World Title" by Quiksilver
Men's Retailer of the Year: Huntington Surf & Sport, Huntington Beach
Women's Apparel Brand of the Year: Billabong
Women's Marketing Campaign of the Year: "Untitled" by Insight
Women's Swim Brand of the Year: L*Space by Monica Wise
Women's Retailer of the Year: Huntington Surf & Sport, Huntington Beach
Breakthrough Brand of the Year: Stance
Breakthrough Retailer of the Year: Maui Nix, Ft. Lauderdale 

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print