Friday, September 13

2002 ASR From San Diego

By Tes Sewell
EXPN.com

Action Sports Retailer is truly a wondrous place. I can think of no other venue where all avenues of action sports get together and celebrate the world that we have all created. From one seat on the main drag of last week's ASR show I saw Tony Hawk, Todd Richards, Brian Deegan, Rick Thorne and Rob Machado stroll on by. Where else do the worlds of skate, snow, FMX, BMX and Surf get to do business together? San Diego in late summer.

I think that ASR is different now than its original concept. In the past, retailers used to flock to these shows to see and buy the latest and hippest gear. These days most retailers have already seen much of the hype before they get to the big show. Certainly, from the people that I talked to, there is much less buying that goes on at these shows nowadays.

Art lesson of the day - This Hollywood display at the ASR Defector show takes after Andy Warhol's style. Kris Markovich, captain of the Hollywood ship, is talking to a TV guy in this picture.

ASR is a scene. The big companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to create their booth spaces. The real players have elaborate, exclusive 2-storey mega complexes that resemble the velvet rope, nightclub experience….only the super special may enter. Then, on the outskirts of the show floor, there are the small, independent wholesalers and designers who just want their gear to be seen. This is the real entertainment of shows like ASR.

There are all manner of people out there whom have ideas as to what 'the kids' want. So many of these people are so short of the mark, but so many of the big companies were once in this position. I'm sure we would not have to drift back all that far to see companies like Camelbak and Rollerblade and Power Bar in the far flung wastelands of the big shows. But when the idea hits then you get to be front and center.

This year I was particularly tickled by a couple of different booths. One of these was selling what looked like soft-toy attachments for Skate and Snowboard helmets. Not like helmets are already a hard sell to the new-skool-kool out there, but to sit Kermit the Frog on top of your noggin seems to be a great way to put the final nail in that coffin. OK,OK,OK, I realize that these are selling to the young kids out there, but why is it that someone in their thirties has to be around modeling them?????

Street shredder Frank Hirata tail slides through a corner in Clairemnont's epic bowl during one of ASR's heavy sessions.

My other highlight booth has to be the Dirtbag clothing folks. The clothes themselves were not outstanding, but any company who bases their marketing campaign on the phrase, "Wear them 'til they stink" has to be onto something…….right?

It's easy to drift through the show and be stunned by the lights and the sounds (and the free beer on the Boost Mobile booth) but I had a few opportunities to drag myself away from the crowd and just observe the workings of the ASR world.

There is always a cloud of testosterone hanging in front of the Reef booth. The infamous Reef Girls, with their flawless nether regions, signing poster after poster. Indeed there are many bikini-clad beauties wandering the show, this is, after all, about the Barbie Surf lifestyle. But, late in the day, I reflected on the life that these bikini models experience.

The "A" in ASR... From left to right - Brandon Bybee, Tara Dakides, Tina Basich, Sal Masekala, and Kevin Jones.

I think I was standing by the Raisins booth (or one of the better known swimwear brands) and noticed one of the girls hunched down, sitting on her heels. She had spent an entire day changing from scant suit to scant suit and parading in front of team upon team of soft goods buyers. I don't think anyone regarded this as degrading in any way since the objective is very legitimate - show swimsuits in their best light on a live model - yet the challenge of spending your entire day being stared at on an elevated catwalk struck me as one of the toughest jobs at the show.

Between you and me though, ASR is not about Bikinis or shoes or surfboards. ASR is all about the post show parties and 'movie premieres'. I loosely title these things as 'premieres' because I have rarely been in worse places to watch any movie The chance to hang out and have a frosty one with the beautiful people is well worth the ghastly sound and the crappy picture though. Good thing they all come out on video and DVD.

Related Photos:
ASR 2002 - Booths & product
ASR 2002 - Faces & Places
ASR 2002 - Contests & action