MANILA, Philippines - OluKai, a leading manufacturer of premium beach footwear that reflects the Hawaiian lifestyle and traditions, emerged as the top brand of choice in the recent 8th Surf Industry Manufacturers Association Image Awards (SIMA) held at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California.
A new player in the mix of more than 700 leading global surf companies and retail brands vying for the prestigious award, OluKai won as overall “Breakthrough Brand of the Year” and bested popular rivals Ambsn, Analog Clothing, Waterman Collection and Rusty.
Established in 2003, the SIMA Image Awards is the only awards program of its kind that gives SIMA members and surf specialty retailers the opportunity to recognize fellow surf industry companies for their outstanding contributions to the industry. The goal of the SIMA Image Awards is to identify the surf industry’s most influential companies and recognize them for their efforts to advance and grow the industry over the past year.
According to Maui Rabuco, OluKai brand manager, the company is deeply honored to receive the SIMA accolade.
“This award proudly celebrates the brand’s relentless zeal to elevate both the fashion and comfort wearability of today’s beach footwear essentials. With this international feat, we are confident that we can sustain the brand’s momentum here in the country as well,” Rabuco says.
Known for being uniquely inspired by authentic Polynesian/Hawaiian culture as it caters a well-defined market with water-oriented lifestyles, OluKai footwear represents the modern generation of beach sandals. With its innovative “comfort engineering” anatomical foot bed technology, which ensures biomechanically correct comfort and fit, along with durability and trend-setting fashion, the brand continues to mark its growing presence as one of the most-sought after consumer brands in the US.
Exclusively distributed in the country by Primer Group of Companies, OluKai’s newly released beach footwear styles are now available in the following retail outlets: OluKai kiosk ATC, OluKai kiosk Marquee Mall, OluKai kiosk Abreeza, Res|Toe|Run Glorietta 4, Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Galleria, Gateway, TriNoma, Festival Mall, Shangri-la, Ayala Cebu, General Santos, Embarcadero, Marquee Mall, Ilocos Norte, Naga and Abreeza, R.O.X. Bonifacio High Street, Marquee Mall, Bratpack Greenbelt 5, The Travel Club Shangri-La, Shangri-La Mactan Cebu, Stoked Inc. Mall of Asia, TriNoma, Rockwell and Chimes Specialty Store, Davao. Fanatics can also follow OluKai via its online Facebook fan page (OluKai Philippines) and Twitter account (OluKaiPH).