AGE: 46
RESIDENCE: Laguna Beach
FAMILY: Wife Debbie; 12-year-old daughter Ali
FAVORITE TRIP: Fiji
ALTERNATivE CAREER: Memorabilia collector

Huntington Beach-based Roxy is one of the strongest brands ever to come out of Orange County. What started as an afterthought of a girls' swimwear line at Quiksilver in the early 1990s has grown to dominate the market it created: surf lifestyle clothing and accessories for girls and young women.

Like many great ideas, today the concept of an authentic girls' surf line seems so obvious, the need and opportunity so clear. That wasn't the case when Randy Hild came to Quiksilver in 1992 as part of the company's purchase of the Raisins swimwear brand. That year Roxy did approximately $1 million in volume. This year it will surpass $150 million and is predicted to overtake the volume of Quiksilver's men's line within a season or two. A combination of factors led to the success, and Hild is one of them.

Prior to hiring Hild, there was no separate team working on women's lines at Quiksilver. "Bob McKnight, the founder and CEO of Quiksilver, decided to bring people in who understand women and the market to try and get Roxy off the ground," Hild says. "I started overseeing Roxy as brand manager, all aspects of the brand." At the time men's and women's lines were handled by the same people. Hild brought in separate reps, separate designers, a separate marketing team. He built a company within the company.

"My job was to build an image and a brand and a marketing package with Roxy. I wanted people who were thinking it, living it, breathing it. That meant bringing in a whole network of women's-only reps who were passionate about the product, intuitive and part of the surf culture."

Once the structure was in place to take advantage of Quicksilver's financial, design and systems advantages, the line needed a product. That product was boardshorts for girls, the product that drove the success of the company while encouraging and empowering girls to be athletic in the ocean. With boardshorts they could surf comfortably and athletically without worrying about their bikini bottoms.

"It happened in Hawaii. Specifically, on the beach, on the North Shore during a contest," Hild says. "Bob McKnight was sitting there and he saw girls wearing guys' boardshorts. We knew girls had been buying Quiksilver guys' shorts in small sizes. It kind of all came together. Bob said, 'Why don't we do boardshorts for girls.' Then it came to me; my job was to implement it."

It was a case of great timing coupled with smart moves. Quiksilver brought in world champion professional surfer Lisa Andersen to help with the design and to promote the shorts. Lissa Zwahlen created innovative designs. Hild hired models who surfed to promote the clothes. Innovative ad campaigns caught the eye of the consumer. Fashion magazine editors gave enthusiastic editorial coverage after Hild held fashion shows in New York.

"The whole package came together. We had the boardshorts and Lisa Andersen at the same time that Baby Boomers' kids were entering their teen years and becoming significant consumers. Quiksilver was behind it with the structure, funding and systems already in place. All those things came together to create this trend which we're still kind of chasing."

The rest is history. Today there is a Roxy cult. The logo sticker of two hearts is everywhere. Whether they wear it or not, there's not a girl in Orange County between the ages of 12-20 who doesn't know the brand. That's a tremendous marketing accomplishment in just a few years. But Hild, who is senior vice president of marketing for all of the 11 Quiksilver brands (including Raisins), isn't done. He's going global.

Hild sees Roxy as having global brand potential, citing Asia, Europe (especially Eastern Europe) and Australia as key markets. The key, he says, is "to stay authentic and connected to the lifestyle of surfing. That is the unique thing we captured. Instead of us having to make up an identity and lifestyle like most of the other fashion brands - Ralph Lauren and Abercrombie & Fitch come to mind - Roxy supports a lifestyle that exists: the California beach lifestyle.

"We have this lifestyle of girls who really surf, who are really in the water. It's unique, it's authentic and it's pure. That's the foundation of Quiksilver and it's the foundation of Roxy. It's an authentic lifestyle we project, a living style that's uniquely Southern Californian."

Keeping it authentic locally while growing globally is the next challenge. "Being a public company we've got to grow; Wall Street kind of demands it. But we've also got the tremendous need to maintain the roots. Those are the two mantras. They're kind of yin and yang, opposites of each other. It's the challenge and the job we're given, to maintain the careful balance between the two.

"We have a global opportunity. We have two stores in Moscow. But we certainly haven't penetrated the Russian market yet. There's an opportunity for the industry to grow and permeate markets that aren't necessarily connected with an ocean."

If the concept of girls in Moscow wearing Roxy seems strange, keep in mind how urban brands have spread fashion and lifestyle far from the urban streets where they began. Orange County fashion history includes many forgotten brands that grew too quickly only to lose their core audience and quickly lose relevance. "We worry about that every day with every decision we make," Hild says. "Is it authentic and real, and is the person at the beach going to relate to it and be inspired by it?

"The global youth market can be inspired by the California lifestyle," Hild says. "As long as you do it with integrity and don't try and be something you're not. The California beach lifestyle is healthy and real. We're going to take it to the world and share it." OCM

- By James Reed

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