Quiksilver has partnered with André Balazs’ The Standard Hotels to market cobranded men’s and women’s swimsuits. The boardshorts and bikini will be distributed via poolside vending machines in the hotel’s four properties, in their boutiques and online at shopthestandard.com.
“The Standard came to Quiksilver because they were looking to extend their brand and work with like-minded brands,” said Joshua Katz, director of marketing and communications at Huntington Beach, Calif.-based Quiksilver Inc. “We decided to collaborate and make something cool as well as useful for Standard guests. Our core product is boardshorts, and The Standard hotels have pretty notorious pool scenes, so swimsuits made a lot of sense.”
There are four men’s designs in the first batch of boardshorts, which harken back to the fits and looks of Seventies and Eighties styles. Each one is inspired by The Standard’s four locations in downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, Miami and New York. The $75 boardshorts are made in Quiksilver’s ultralightweight, “diamond dobby” stretch material, which prevents rashes, with a retro scalloped leg and packaged in a waterproof travel bag.
Related Galleries
Each design features a “Quik City Guide” on the inside waistband, with addresses of local places of interest. The Downtown L.A. trunk features alternative art spaces in that city, the Hollywood trunk highlights independent music venues, the New York trunk lists other swimming pools to visit there and Miami features hip restaurants and cafes. The inside label on each reads “The Standard Boardshorts by Quiksilver.”
The men’s swimsuits are available in even waist sizes from 30 to 36, and the black women’s bikini is available in three sizes. Quiksilver has developed an innovative vending machine as part of the partnership, so that hotel guests can purchase a swimsuit any time of the day or night.
“This is a 24-hour customer, and a lot of times they might not have a swimsuit but want to take a late-night swim, after the hotel’s boutique is closed,” noted Katz. “We are very much interested in new and progressive ways of reaching our customers.”
In addition to the swimsuits, the vending machines will offer zines and $10 works of art from local artists. “The idea is to link the vending machine to the local community,” explained Katz.
Sales of the cobranded swimsuits will begin in The Standard Hotels boutiques and online Aug. 8, with a kickoff party on the roof of the Los Angeles property that day. The first vending machine will be installed in the Los Angeles hotel, with the three other locations receiving their vending machines in the coming months.