Today, we’d like to introduce you to Dave Kamena.
Hi Dave, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Over twenty-five years ago, some friends and I came up with a genius idea. I was living on the beach and playing a lot of beach volleyball at the time, surfing in the morning and finishing my master’s thesis at SDSU.
The genius idea was a pair of shorts.
I was working for a clothing designer at the time, and he helped me make a pair of surf shorts made for volleyball. The surf shorts looked different, almost counterculture, because they were longer and had flared legs for athletics. They were geniuses in some ways- they caught on like fire in the beach volleyball market and fanned out to my larger social crowd in a matter of months. I developed other items for my market and continued to grow.
This small idea has allowed me to have a solid job foundation without using my degree or working for the man for over twenty-five years, giving me a chance to travel every summer to play volleyball and see friends in some of the most beautiful places in North America.
They put my friends and I front and center selling the brand at some of the world’s most exciting music festivals. The shorts created a brand that created a lifestyle that made lots of fun and exciting things happen, and while the shorts traveled around selling themselves, I worked in the trenches behind them, making mistakes after mistakes and sometimes earning more success.
The twist was that I saw the music and social events needed better merchandise, and I took that on, developing hat programs for Coachella and tweaking the product structure at Bonnaroo. Today, one of my favorite things about my job is developing better merch/ programs for events and other organizations. It’s so rewarding to see a brand elevated by its apparel and accessory offering. I love it!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Creating a clothing brand is full of obstacles. Cash flow, competition, constant reinvention, market changes, there are so many on that list.
Working for yourself also means that every day is either an opportunity to succeed or a chance to quit. There’s no one writing your check and no one to complain to. If you are sick, you deal with it or go out of business. That can be tough.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I mentioned clothing design, which is just like making music or creating art. I reflect on what I see in my world and try to make it better. My brand kamenaoutdoor is all about beach athletic lifestyle and I see the ultimate cross of super quality tech brands like Nike mixed with a cool beach lifestyle touch like rip curl. There are plenty of choices out there, but we all have our own story and look/feel.
I would say my most effective talent is to stand outside of myself and see things the way they really are. That can be brutal and difficult, and most people are able to develop filters. It’s simple for me to go to an event that I don’t know anything about and study what people are doing. What they look like. What they are wearing. I then develop a plan for a merchandise plan for that event (after some serious study time).
The plan is based on the design we develop and includes important bases like retail pricing, margins and product availability, sales channel and when we can actually deliver. These are so important that a simple decorator or designer can’t do them all. I can.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I wing foil almost every day. Loyal to the foil!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kamenabrands.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kamena_outdoor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kamenaoutdoor/
