O'Neill has partnered with Itochu Corporation for an exclusive, long-term licensing and distribution
partnership in Japan.
Itochu Corporation is a leading trade company that
specializes in developing and launching well-recognized American and European
brands throughout Japan and Asia. To act as operational partner of O'Neill,
Itochu brought in sub-licensee Nikki, a leading action sports company in Japan.
Itochu Corporation will be primary licensee for Men's and
Women's swimwear, apparel & accessories, and Nikki will manufacture and
distribute these categories through its key retailers. Design direction for
both the Men and Women's categories will be sourced from global design
inspirations. The first collection is set to launch in stores December 2010,
and will include limited number of outerwear jackets and pants from O'Neill
snowboarder Jeremy Jones' global outerwear line.
Harry Suzuki will be leading O'Neill operations for Itochu
Corporation. Suzuki has been with Itochu for 13 years, and has experience
managing numerous brands of apparel and footwear including Converse, Airwalk,
ProKeds, Keds, and Saucony.
When asked about the partnership, Harry Suzuki said, “We are
very excited to launch the business of one of the world's most respected brands
in the action sports industry. We believe that with its strong brand heritage,
O'Neill has great potential, and with our experience and position we can grow
the O'Neill brand to the next level.”
Joining Itochu, is sub-licensee Nikki, which will be led by
Katsushi Miwa. Miwa has over 27 years of experience within the action sports
industry, and led Nikki's OP (Ocean Pacific) business to become one of the main
brands within the industry in Japan.
O'Neill will be available across Japan specifically major
cities like Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, and can be found in key retailers like
Murasaki Sports, Marui, Alpen, and Xebio to name a few. Itochu also plans to
open two O'Neill retail stores in 2011, and hopes to grow the chain to include
15 retail stores by 2015.
