Surfer's fate tied to T-shirt line
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hidden on the back of T-shirt labels is a verse from the Book of Hebrews: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Faith is what the Faith Riding Co. is banking on to turn the modest clothing merchandiser into a viable contender in a surf-and-skate industry already served by several established companies.
Tony Moniz, president of Faith Riding Co., displays T-shirts that have the design of the upcoming surf meet his company is sponsoring at Sunset Beach. Moniz' company markets the Faith Riding Co. logo apparel in 50 stores nationwide and in Japan, from a small office in Kapahulu.
The three-man operation, headed by competitive surfer Tony Moniz, is sponsoring its first pro surf meet starting today at Sunset Beach.
The Faith Riding Pro is the first qualifying event on the Association of Professional Surfers 2002 World Tour, with more than 90 surfers expected to compete.
With a budget of $30,000 for the event — the $10,000 prize money coming straight from Faith — Moniz knows this is not a money-making venture. It's an opportunity to announce the company's arrival on the surf scene to hundreds of potential consumers. After all, where better to promote surf apparel than at a surf meet?
"This is advertising," Moniz said, matter-of-factly. "It's getting the name out there."
The company began in a spare bedroom in Moniz' Kuli'ou'ou home seven years ago. With just four T-shirt designs, Moniz hit the road to convince retail outlets to carry his line, which targets teens to twentysomethings.
In its first year, Faith earned about $100,000 in revenues. Over time that figure, along with the number of designs, has nearly quadrupled.
Having outgrown Moniz' living room, Faith now operates out of a small office on Kapahulu Avenue. The company also has a retail store in the Campus Center at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus and sponsors about six surfers.
Aside from its top-selling T-shirts, Faith also carries board shorts, caps, visors and stickers in about 50 stores in Hawai'i, California, Florida, Arizona, Texas and Japan. At its peak in 1998, the line was in about 150 stores across the nation and in Japan. But as the economy slumped, so did business.
Moniz, who continues to work as a sales representative for an eyewear and and motorcycle apparel company, focused more attention on his other accounts, putting Faith on the backburner.
That has changed.
Moniz has redefined his purpose, intending to make Faith a serious competitor in the surf-and-skate world. If that means investing thousands of dollars in title-sponsoring a surf meet, he'll do it.
Born and raised in Kalihi, Moniz started surfing when he was 7. Thirty-five years and countless competitions later, he is seeing the industry from the other side.
"Out of all the areas in the surfing industry, owning a clothing company is the hardest thing to do," said Moniz, who hires free-lance graphic artists to design the logo merchandise. "I have to keep up with all the trends, colors, styles, graphic designs. Fashion moves fast. It's hard to keep up."
A hard-way learner, Moniz struggles with delinquent accounts and a sluggish economy.
But only once did he have a problem with his company's name. Chosen mostly because of his strong Christian beliefs, Faith means more than just a conviction in God. For any extreme sport, he said, you have to have faith. In your judgment, in your ability, in yourself.
"It's a powerful word, it's international, everybody understands it," he said. "And being a Christian, it was perfect."
The owner of a surf shop on the North Shore flatly turned his line down. He didn't want anything religious in his store.
"I said, 'Dude, it's not a religious thing,' " Moniz said. "It's a relationship. That's what we're about. We're not preaching."
But Faith — and faith — is what drives the father of six to work 60-hour workweeks, to sacrifice surfing time to be at the office at 6:30 a.m., to invest money he can't afford in a surf meet that won't bring him any immediate revenue.
"It's just like surfing," he said. "You weather the storms and wait it out. The next day may be sunshine and you go out and have a good time. Right now it feels like a storm. But we're just riding it out. Gotta keep the faith and just ride it out, baby."
