Creative and Visionary for Brands and Products
Combined 73 Years Experience Includes lululemon and O’Neill
Vancouver, British Columbia / ACCESSWIRE / October 6, 2014 / Respect Your Universe, Inc. (TSX VENTURE: RYU) (OTCQB: RYUN) (“RYU”), a global performance training and fitness brand with origins in the movements and philosophy of martial artistry, created for the multisport athlete, is pleased to announce the appointments of a new innovation design and product development team. Respect Your Universe / RYU has assembled a team of some of the top industry leaders in textile development, product development, technical design, and unprecedented brand building.
RYU’s new team includes Juliet Korver as Product Design Director. Juliet’s past roles include Lululemon, O’Neill, and Filmar. Juliet has a strong background in apparel manufacturing and has worked for direct manufacturer, Filmar Corp., developing private label products for many of the top brands in the outdoor and performance sports labels. Customers include North Face, Vans, Marmot, Spider, and Swix. As the Brand Product Manager at Lululemon, Juliet was responsible for branding of collections and integrating technologies, fabrics and products which helped shape some of Lululemon’s most popular apparel products. As the Product and Marketing Manager at Filmar and O’Neill, she shaped product strategies, including overseeing and directing the design and technical product team. Additional experience includes visionary, creative, and entrepreneurial roles in active lifestyle apparel and specialty equipment companies. In her new role Juliet states: “what our team is creating will fill the gap in the market that no performance active wear brand has accomplished to date. As an active athlete, I am very excited to be joining the innovative, high quality, and fast growing Respect Your Universe brand.”
Damien Kelly, President of Bad Monkey Design, has joined the RYU team as Head of Research and Design. Damien brings a wealth of experience in innovate design and brand development. His client base includes Thule, Lululemon, Atomic, Simms Fishing, Race Face, Sitka Gear, Blurr and Marmot. As a designer for these apparel and specialty equipment companies, Damien created unique and ground-breaking products that produced unprecedented results for these brands. Damien’s team was instrumental in the design for Lululemon’s first technical outwear line. Bad Monkey has won numerous awards for ground-breaking innovation in apparel, hard goods, and accessories. Damien states: “As a designer, I am eager to be joining the Respect Your Universe brand at a time when we have the prospect to create unique apparel and accessories to influence, change, and penetrate a very exciting market opportunity.”
RYU is also very pleased to announce a strategic partnership with the President of Performance Textiles, Treya Klassen. Treya is the former Director and President of AnK Apparel Manufacturer, one of the leading technical apparel manufacturers in Canada and Asia. AnK’s customer base included Polo RLX, Lululemon, Eddie Bauer, Cabelas, Sitka, Gander Mountain, Department of National Defense, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, and Arcteryx. With over twenty-eight years of experience in the apparel industry and the current Account Manager of Polartec, Treya will be assisting the team at RYU in developing and creating the newest, most innovative textile platforms. Polartec are the creators of Polartec® fabrics—the most advanced performance textiles available today.
Marcello Leone, RYU’s CEO, President and Chairman, stated, “We are thrilled to have solidified our product development and design team with the hires of Juliet, Damien, and Treya. The RYU focus remains clear for the future in becoming a global presence in the apparel industry. Our next-generation lines of apparel and accessories due out in early 2015 will clearly define our DNA and demonstrate our uniqueness and performance over other brands.”
About RYU
Respect Your Universe, Inc. is a global performance training and fitness brand with origins in the movements and philosophy of martial artistry, created for the multisport athlete. RYU deliver’s uncompromising style, comfort, durability, and function for our customers. We exist to facilitate the best in human performance. For more information, visit http://www.ryu.com/.
On Behalf of the Board
RESPECT YOUR UNIVERSE, INC.
Marcello Leone, CEO, President and Chairman of the Board
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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Statements regarding the future growth of RYU are "forward-looking statements", which are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of RYU to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, that RYU's business plan is dependent on additional financing, which it may be unable to obtain on terms acceptable to RYU, changes in general economic or market conditions that could impact consumer demand for RYU's products, and RYU's ability to execute on its business plan. Except as required by law, RYU undertakes no responsibility to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
Source: Respect Your Universe, Inc.