Outdoors brand takes sailing kit on board
The owner of outdoor clothing brand Swanndri has bought Line 7, a label which has been long associated with the America’s Cup.
Christchurch-based Longbeach Holdings, which owns Swanndri and Longbeach Apparel, will take over the company on June 30.
Line 7’s agricultural, wet weather gear will be sold with Swanndri clothing, while its other styles will be sold at Longbeach Apparel.
Line 7 began in 1963 developing wet weather apparel for sailors. The company, which is known for its long-term association with the America’s Cup, collapsed in July 2009, but was sold to Australian textiles firm Charles Parsons Group later that year.
Longbeach Holdings managing director Craig Mccallum said the company was ‘‘well-placed’’ to further develop the Line 7 brand.
‘‘While the agricultural and the fashion/lifestyle product offerings underpin the acquisition, the company will now take time to further consider the commercial and industrial marine channels, where Line 7 has traditionally enjoyed a rich heritage.’’
Line 7 clothed crews for the America’s Cup, the Whitbread round-the-world yacht race and the Olympics, but was best known for being the official clothing supplier of New Zealand’s winning 1995 America’s Cup team lead by Sir Peter Blake.
The company has gone into receivership twice, once in in the 1980s when it was bought by former chief executive Ross Munro, and then again in 2009, reportedly owing about $5 million.
At the time, the firm had 11 stores, and attributed its demise to slow payments by customers and a fall in the New Zealand dollar, which had raised the cost of its Asian-made products.