Billabong Looks to Elevate With Help of Sincerely Jules’ Julie Sariñana
Billabong and Sincerely Jules blogger Julie Sariñana are expanding their relationship with a capsule collection the surfwear company hopes in turn will help elevate the brand.
The collection, totaling more than 40 pieces priced from $39.95 to $84.95, includes swimwear, denim, dresses, rompers, graphic T-shirts, matching tops and bottoms and beach accessories.
The deal deepens the relationship between the two brands, which initially began working together in early 2015 with Sariñana creating content for Billabong.
“It just felt like the right thing to do to go the next step and create a collection together,” Sariñana said, adding readers have historically responded positively in the past to posts she's done that have included the brand.
The partnership is an interesting one. Sariñana doesn't surf and is not exactly a fan of the water, which runs opposite to the core surfer the brand was built around. The thinking is the capsule could help broaden Billabong's reach to — at the least — new retail accounts, and potentially new customers to the Billabong brand. The strategy appears to be working with Selfridges in London along with Printemps and BHV in Paris among some of the accounts picked up as a result of this collection.
“We'll see where it goes from here,” said Katie Singer, Billabong global vice president of women's merchandising and design. “We are definitely seeing the opportunity to maybe push our price point a little higher on collections and collaborations like this.”
Most of the inspiration for the collection is drawn from Tulum, where Sariñana, who was born in Mexico, likes to go each year. That translated into palm prints and a mix of both vibrant and neutral colors.
Singer pointed to a soft hand feel, with
The surfwear brand is broadening its deal with the influencer to include a capsule collaboration.
cottons, linens, sand-washed rayons and vintage details on the denim.
“Overall, we made sure that the collection paid homage to Julie's personality and we wanted it to be really casual because Julie's casual,” Singer said. “She definitely has a little bit of a classic element and a cool element so we wanted to make sure that everything we designed went back to her style.”
The capsule represents the first time Sariñana has worked on an apparel collection, which she found to be a learning process.
“I think what really surprised me was just how long it takes,” Sariñana said of the design and development process. “We'd been working on this for a whole year. There's a lot that goes into it.”
The collection launches March 12 in the U.S. and Canada, followed the next day with a global rollout to retailers such as Galeries Lafayette and the aforementioned Selfridges, among others.