Club Ride Apparel has hired a female designer as part of its strategy to increase sales of its casual-performance cycling apparel for women to 50 percent of sales by the end of next year.
Increased focus on the women’s line started with the 15-16 Fall-Winter Collection and continues with the expansion of women’s offerings in their 2016 Spring-Summer Collection.
Mia Stearns, born and raised in Sun Valley, joins Club Ride after three years as the Men’s Knits and Fleece Designer and one year as the Mountain Bike Designer at Fox Head. Stearns studied at the Orange Coast College and Academy of Art University, and interned in design at Volcom while still in college.
“We are thrilled to have Mia on board as our Senior Designer,” said Mike Herlinger, Club Ride founder and head of product development. “Her history at Volcom and Fox Head will prove to be beneficial to the continued growth of Club Ride. She brings expertise and a fresh perspective to Club Ride’s casual-performance cycling-inspired clothing, which is sure to enhance our current and future development. Mia has a contemporary perspective of style, color and function, helping us raise the bar and evolve in design as a technical lifestyle clothing company.”
In addition to hiring Stearns to further progress their line, Club Ride is focusing on three main areas for 2016:
- The bike board short, incorporating the look of the board short and functions and features of a bike short
- Expanding the women’s collection the goal is to be a 50/50 split in sales between men and women, which would be an increase from 37 percent of overall sales in 2015
- Introducing ride time ratings for innerwear designed to replace the heavy lycra short underneath
In other news, Club Ride launched an Ambassador program for 2015. Key Pro Ambassadors include former World and National Mountain Bike Champion Ruthie Matthes, World Mountain Biking Champion Sara Ballantyne, Tour de France rider Frankie Andreu, Olympians Heather Irmiger and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski, the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) Trail Care Crew of Jordan Carr and Lani Bruntz, the Sun Valley Higher Ground Hand-cycling Team and USA Triathlon President, Barry Siff. The 2015 Ambassador program will run through December 31, 2015.
Club Ride is also making their debut at Outdoor Retailer this year. As the line continues to be the go-to apparel for a broader mix of people who live an active lifestyle, the need to meet with outdoor retailers and customers has increased. Club Ride is in the Pavilions their debut year | PV2348. Club Ride will be at Interbike for their fifth year at booth 6078.
Some new sales reps and groups have been added to the Club Ride family as the company continues to grow. The reps include Shane O’Brien and Associates in the Midwest, Scott Williford/Southeast Sales in the Southern states, Scott Fortner/Adrenaline Sports Group in Southern CA, and John Blye in the Northeast.
Club Ride was created in 2008 when founder Mike Herlinger had an epiphany while mountain biking– design casual-performance cycling apparel that is highly functional on and off the bike. Based in Ketchum, ID, the company strives to provide innovative designs that are comfortable, functional and stylish.
