Interview by Dylan Beach
When RVCA’s name was read out as the Mens Brand of the Year at the 2017 SBIA Surf Industry Awards, it didn’t come as a surprise to many of the people within the room. RVCA have been going by their business pushing out great products and working hard with retailers for the last few years. In this week’s Winners Profile we shot a few questions through to Australian Brand Manager Scott Payne to see how it felt winning the award and what they believe helped them edge out the stiff competition.
Congratulations once again for winning the 2017 Men’s Brand of the Year. Now we’re a few months on, how is it sitting with the team?
The team were super stoked to be acknowledged and it really does highlight the hard work they and our retailers have put in over the last few years. RVCA is a family built around loyalty and integrity and individuality is one of our greatest strengths. We support each other and are committed to the success of the team. We foster an open-minded, collaborative environment that is innately creative and balance hard work with good times. We are passionate about what drives the culture of our industry.
Looking back over the last 12 months or so what do you attribute to RVCA having a stellar year?
The RVCA brand has a powerful story that is continually connecting with new audiences across a wide range of subcultures. Along with the ability to segment our product and brand messages to the right audience, the customer continually comes back to find out more. The brand is driven by creativity in everything we do. First and foremost through the artist network program and this point of difference is a key brand message that is resonating. The powerful community aspect the brand has also allowed us to increase our reach with the strong growth of the social platforms of today.
RVCA, as a brand has such a large appeal through different surf, athletic and artist collaboration collections. How would you describe what RVCA is doing as a brand?
RVCA is about inspiring our generation, providing something of substance. Above all, we strive to create a lifestyle brand that speaks to diverse sub-cultures—those that in this day do not limit themselves to one sport, passion or pursuit.
Supporting like-minded individuals, RVCA is proud to work with a group of hand- selected advocates. Each person within the program symbolizes something unique, adding flavour to the brand’s colourful culture of artists and advocates. The Balance of Opposites runs through everything RVCA does. What other brand can say that they organically support some of the most experimental artists in the world, while simultaneously sponsoring the most gnarly MMA fighters alive. These two should be like oil and water, but somehow with this brand it not only works, but also makes total sense!!
Retailers would be either thinking about or have placed an order for their next range whilst their reading this. What trends will we see coming through stores?
Our products are timeless, yet unexpected, acting as a platform for our consumers to express their respective points of view. Our design direction is clean, clear and always authentic to RVCA’s DNA.
RVCA seems to be building in leaps and bounds within Australia. What can we expect from RVCA in the near future?
RVCA Women’s is a key focus and is a balance of easy to wear casual styles that are wardrobe staples and artfully designed stand out pieces that make a unique statement. Each collection feature designs drawing inspiration and work from our featured ANP artists and advocates as well as the brand’s foundation.
VA Sports is another area we will be turning up the dial. VA Sport is the other bookend to the artist network program, which makes RVCA unique. Technical constructions, functional fabrics with an ANP streetwear aesthetic makes these garments perfect for modern or technical martial arts training for both men and women.
