Leading Sportswear Brand Focuses on Chic Accents, Individual Style
(Vancouver, BC, Canada) – Popular women’s apparel designer Linda Hipp and her company, LIJA, announce the premier of their Fall 2009 Active and Tennis collections, offering a blend of runway fashion trends and vintage sport styling.
Showcasing feminine silhouettes and chic accents such as color-blocking, ruffles, ruching and zipper detailing, the new collections fuse sport, leisure and fashion in unique designs. Emphasizing functionality, comfort and movement, a variety of luxurious, lightweight performance fabrics are used in the line’s tank tops, short-sleeved shirts, vests, dresses, jackets, capris, shorts, skorts, and pants. Key technical properties include moisture wicking, quick drying, wind resistance, breathability and UV protection.
“The market has responded tremendously well to our entrance into the Active and Tennis categories,” says Hipp, principal designer and founder. “Retailers are telling us that consumers have really embraced the silhouettes, materials and styling that make these collections distinctly LIJA.”
Pieces like the Compression Fatale Dress, Hybrid Flow Top and Willow Windsprint Jacket highlight the versatility of the collections, which are meant to provide women with fashionable apparel for a variety of active pursuits. The fall styles also feature three new fabrications. Compression II is slightly heavier and offers more coverage than the version used in tops, while Glide and Ozone appear in several outerwear pieces.
LIJA’s complete offerings for Fall 2009 – including the brand’s three other golf and sportswear collections – will be sold in department stores and the finer country clubs, resorts and off-course retailers throughout North America, such as Riviera, Kiawah Island, The Greenbrier and Whistling Straits.
Retailing from $65 to $150, the Active and Tennis collections are highlighted in a 32-page catalog currently available for retailers and media members. Shipping begins July 1, 2009.
For more information, call 888.263.1191 or visit www.lijastyle.com.
About the Active and Tennis Fabrics
Compression I, a dense Meryl® Nylon/Lycra that is stretchy and soft to the touch, is LIJA’s core fabric for the active and tennis collections. This fabrication has body hugging support, moisture wicking and UV protection of 40+, providing perfect conditions for excellent performance.
Compression II is a slightly heavier fabric than the original version and offers more stability and coverage.
Fluid, LIJA’s most luxurious fabric, is extremely lightweight and has a beautiful, buttery-soft feel. Once you’re in it, you won’t want to get out! Designed for comfort and mobility, this fabric also provides important technical features such as moisture wicking and UV protection of 20+, and is quick drying.
French Terry is an incredibly soft modal that feels beautiful on while the spandex provides enhanced stretch for movement.
Glide, a smooth outerwear fabric, is padded with a synthetic fill and lined with soft jersey to keep you warm, while its sateen finish gives it an urban feel.
Hybrid, a textured technical knit, is an open weave knit fabric with superior stretch and comfort. This lightweight moisture wicking fabric is ideal for high performance activities as the open mesh weave provides breathability and pulls moisture away from your skin. The easy care of this fabric makes it a “must” for an active wardrobe.
The Lux Knit fleece fabric has a classic look and feel to it with a more unique “slubby” modified French Terry back.
Ozone is a lightweight, water repellant, dual layer outerwear fabric that provides comfort, style, and strong technical features
Vapor is sleek, luxurious and ultra lightweight. Its key features, including enhanced stretch for mobility, quick drying capabilities and UV protection of 50+, will provide you with a competitive edge in all your active pursuits.
Verve, LIJA’s mid-weight fabric, is perfect for layering during warm up or cool down. It not only provides a buttery soft feel next to the skin, but is quick drying and has all the necessary technical properties, including moisture wicking and UV protection of 40+.
Willow is a beautiful, translucent, wind-resistant fabric that is so lightweight, you forget you have it on. This easy-care fabrication is also compact and water-repellant.
About LIJA
LIJA is a market leader in fashion-forward styles featuring feminine and comfortable silhouettes inspired by the fusion of sport, leisure and fashion. The brand’s distinctive excellence is driven by LIJA’s passion, commitment and dedication to creating innovative designs.
Having received significant recognition within and outside the golf industry, LIJA has achieved significant organic annual sales growth. Enjoying a rapidly expanding sales force and account base in North America, LIJA recently began selling into the UK, Ireland, South Africa and United Arab Emirates markets.
Recent recognition for the company includes:
2008 PGA Magazine – Resort Top Seller
2008 PROFIT 100 Rankings of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies
2007 “Business of the Year” – Richmond Chamber of Commerce
2007 PGA Magazine – Resort Top Seller
2007 PGA Magazine – Private Course Top Seller
2007 Best of Show Honors at PGA Show – Golfing Magazine
2007 PROFIT 100 Rankings of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies
2006 PROFIT W100 Ranking of Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs
2006 Business in Vancouver “BC’s 50 Fastest-Growing Companies”
2005 Canadian Golf Company of the Year – Score Golf magazine
Individually, Linda Hipp has been has been named 2008 “Canadian Executive of the Year” by Score Golf, honored as a grant recipient of the Matinee Fashion Foundation Award, which annually recognizes and funds select Canadian designers, and voted a “40 Under 40” winner by Business in Vancouver.
An avid and highly-skilled golfer, Hipp struggled to find on-course apparel that meshed with her off-course fashion sensibility. Recognizing a market opportunity – and the chance to combine her passions for fashion, golf and business – Hyp Golf was launched in July 1997. The company re-branded as LIJA in late 2004. Chiefly influenced by both European trends and West Coast style, Hipp has garnered a widespread reputation as one of North America’s hottest sportswear designers.
Contact:
Andrea Latta
Buffalo Communications
703.891.3383
alatta@billycaspergolf.com
