Just a quick flash from Day 1 of the Action Sports Retailer (ASR) show (all things surf, skate, snow, etc.)  Dakine really stood out as one of the (very) few brands doing a good job reaching out to females.

Some brands simply plastered “girl” colors and designs onto their male-targeted products and others seemed to be selling bikinis just so their models could parade around to attract guys to their booth.  Dakine split its booth space equally between mens and womens and demonstrated an understanding of what women are looking for — quality, fashionable products made just for them.  Check out their newest line of handbags – yes, those are leather handles.

Kudos to Dakine; shame on everyone else.  According to Board-Trac, 29% of the surfing population is women (females comprise 25% and 37% of the skateboarding and snowboarding populations respectively) — so it seems more brands in the action sports space need to get on board (pardon the pun) with how to effectively target women.