Billabong Mens Surf Apparel S/S 2026 Preview
Retail Buyers Guide: Mens Surf Apparel S/S 2026 Retail Buyer’s Guide
Brand: Billabong
Interviewee: Alex Berthonneau – head of merchandising
Which segments did fine in the 2025 Men’s Surf Apparel market so far? Which didn’t? Any clue why? (good & bad)
Overall SS25 has been a very good season. We’ve maintain a consistent business on many categories, but walkshorts, boardies and woven tops did particularly well. We grew business from elevated essentials, which are timeless pieces with a fabric interest, but also gain additional sales from the longer/baggier trend on our apparel that fits more in urban environments.
How did you plan the SS26 offer accordingly? (carrying-overs vs new SKUs, quantities).
Across most categories we’ve built some strong franchises which gained retailers confidence and that we run every Summer or on a year round strategy. But we keep investing in faster pace trends and edgier silhouettes such as our SPEC-73 collection.
Styles: Heritage influence has been key during the past years. Is SS26 a continuation of that trend?
With 50yrs of legacy we have many heritage eras to offer to our consumers, and depending of the consumer profiles, different eras apply. But our 80’s re-issue inspired collection, named Since 73”, with a strong Australian heritage, has been collecting a lot of prebookings this season.
Which stories are driving your SS26 collection in Men’ Surf Apparel?
Adventure Division remains a staple in the collection, dedicated to our core consumers with purpose built apparel for before & after surf. Since 73, as mentioned above, is a key story that fits both specialty distribution and more lifestyle accounts
Customers pay way more attention to the fabrics than they used to: alternative natural fibers, organic, fair-trade issued, techy synthetic blends… Do you have exciting propositions for SS26?
The brand keeps investing in recycled materials or organic alternatives because we’ve always pushed in this direction since we introduced the first recycled boardshorts. With the economical context, studies show that the consumer is considering design interests and pricing over eco conscious materials. When building our collection, we try to combine recycled fibers and newness and limiting the impact on the price tag.
How will you be helping retailers to sell your brand?
Over the recent changes in the industry, Billabong has gained more independence in Europe. The line is now almost exclusively designed in France to suit the needs of the European market. We will also be developing more assets and content regionally to support sell through.
How are you expecting Trumps Tariffs to impact the European surf Apparel market?
Trumps Tariffs will impact the US market and push them into reconsidering their sourcing strategy. We don’t see any particular impact in the region.
Key Products:
Crossfire:
BKH
Larry Cord:
LGH
Vacay SS:
WHT
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