Roxy & JBL launch co-branded portable audio products

Sound is the new style as JBL and Roxy, a brand of Quiksilver Inc., announced a strategic partnership to co-create portable audio products targeted at the tech-savvy market of trend-setters.

Tailored specifically for the Roxy-inspired coastal and mountain casual lifestyle, the new line of headphones featuring JBL’s legendary award winning sound technology is slated to hit stores by the second quarter of 2009, introducing the idea of “Style meets Sound.”

The products will fuse Roxy’s fashion-forward designs with JBL’s reputation as a sound pioneer to ultimately create a collection that is lightweight, compact and easy to carry no matter where the adventure girl goes. Bright pops of green, blue, pink and orange hues harness the fun elements of music, while the superior technology speaks to the importance of high-quality sounding tunes.

The collection, to be sold globally at Roxy/Quiksilver stores and premium retail stores nationwide will consist of three styles: ear-bud, in-ear and over the ear headphones. All designs will be lightweight and easy to carry, perfect for the jet-setting, music-loving fashionista. The collection features affordable price points that allow girls to express themselves stylistically while enjoying the best sound technology.

Focusing on the lifestyle of the fashionable world traveler always seeking her next adventure, the partnership brought in professional globe-trotting Roxy athletes to test the headphones during development.

Roxy surf girls Kassia Meador and Sally Fitzgibbons, along with members of Roxy’s world champion snow team Torah Bright and Amber Stackhouse provided essential feedback during the conception stages to ensure the high-design products were stylish for the streets but strong enough to keep up with their never-ending chase for the perfect wave and slopes.

“Music is such a huge part of any girl’s life. It’s what drives you in competition; it’s what brings back memories of a certain place or a certain event,” says Danielle Beck, Roxy’s Director of Entertainment and Sports Marketing. “Listening to your music with great sound technology makes all the difference.”

“With this partnership, JBL is expanding the demographic reach of the brand by delivering superior lifestyle products to a new audience of young women whose lives are a confluence of fashion, music and adventure,” states Susan Paley, director of business development for JBL.

“Designed by women, for women, the first run of the JBL/Roxy co-branded products are just the beginning. Both companies are committed to providing young women products that inspire them, enabling them to express themselves through the personal and shared experience of music.”

JBL and Roxy’s combined passions for fashion and music are carving a new path for the gypsy heart girl with a rock-n-roll beat, allowing her superior music listening experiences in high design. Due to JBL and Roxy’s collaborative effort, sound is not only meeting style; but rather, sound is style.

About Roxy: Roxy is a brand of Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK), the world’s leading outdoor sports lifestyle company, which designs, produces and distributes a diversified mix of branded apparel, wintersports equipment, footwear, accessories and related products. The Company’s apparel and footwear brands represent a casual lifestyle for young-minded people that connect with its boardriding culture and heritage.

The reputation of Quiksilver’s brands is based on different outdoor sports. The Company’s Quiksilver, Roxy, DC and Hawk brands are synonymous with the heritage and culture of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding, and its beach and water oriented swimwear brands include Raisins, Radio Fiji and Leilani. The Company continues to make snowboarding equipment under its DC, Roxy, Lib Technologies, Gnu and Bent Metal labels.

The Company’s products are sold in over 90 countries in a wide range of distribution, including surf shops, skate shops, snow shops, its proprietary Boardriders Club shops and other company-owned retail stores, other specialty stores and select department stores. Quiksilver’s corporate and Americas’ headquarters are in Huntington Beach, California, while its European headquarters are in St. Jean de Luz, France, and its Asia/Pacific headquarters are in Torquay, Australia.

About JBL: JBL is a unit of Harman International Industries, Incorporated). Harman International designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment products for the automotive, consumer and professional markets, and maintains a strong presence in the Americas, Europe and Asia, employing more than 11,000 people worldwide. The Harman International family of brands includes AKG®, Audioaccess®, Becker®, BSS®, Crown®, dbx®, DigiTech®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, Mark Levinson®, Revel®, QNX®, Soundcraft® and Studer®. Harman International’s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NYSE: HAR.”

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