Conner Coffin Just Bought a Towel Biz!

A little hunk, sure, but stud just turned mogul hopeful… 

Eight days ago, the Santa Barbara surfer Conner Coffin was melted into the Backdoor reef, a collision that opened up a wound that was closed, loosely, with twelve stitches.

Conner, who is twenty-three, is using the down time to sharpen his involvement with the start-up brand, LEUS (pronounced: Loose). Conner was approached a year ago by LEUS to see if he’d be into partnering up.

Did he want to be the sponsored surfer for the company?

Conner said he’d prefer to take a slice of the company. No sponsorship deal, though he would use the product and put stickers on his board. And he’d even throw in a little of his own skin.

“I’ve always been into the idea of getting into a start-up,” says Conner.

But towels?

“Yeah, towels. A lot of people make towels but they don’t focus on ‘em. I felt like we could do a lot of fun stuff, some cool projects.”

What sorta cool projects?

“Throwing midnight pool parties,” says Conner.

It’s a sound biz ideal. Does Conner feel like he has the head for risk?

“If the circumstances are right, I’ll take a chance. I like to look into what I’m having a shot at and I try not to do stupid shit. And as far as LEUS goes, after seeing the business plan and strategy, I didn’t feel like it was a risk at all. It feels like something that could be… big. LEUS is launching internationally, not just in California, so there’s movement worldwide. I like the buzz.”

What makes this a good biz, what makes it unique?

“It’s not just about towels, we’ve started a brand that people want to be a part of, something that makes them feel good.  The big brands make towels and shove ‘em down at the bottom of the surf shop, under all the shit. LEUS has a rad product that looks good on the shop floor and ‘cause it’s priced fairly it’s almost an impulse buy.”

Conner’s so into his new thing, he did a road trip through Spain and Italy schlepping the towels. He says it gave him belief in the brand when shop owners threw open their doors, their arms, and wallets. The first run is already sold out and the company is three times bigger at launch than they figured in their biz plan.

As far as goals, end points, Conner says he’d always wanted to go to college but didn’t have the time ‘cause he was dirtying his rails. This, he says, is his version of a biz college.

“I get to learn my degree in real life,” he says. “If it’s super successful that’s awesome and I feel like we’re in a good position to do that. Our goal is to start in surf and build the brand through that. And then grow in other categories.  This ain’t just surf. Especially right now. You probably heard but the surf industry ain’t doing so hot.”

How important is it, in your opinion, as an athlete, to think about life beyond contest heats?

“They’re little moments of time. I try to put a lot of importance on everything going on outside of a jersey. Contests don’t last forever and I’d be bored if I didn’t do something afterwards.”

(Editor’s note: If it didn’t strike you in the face already, this story came out of a meeting with Conner and the guys from LEUS, who’ll be on the side banners on the site for the next week, each day alternating with a new print from the debut range. I get a buzz from LEUS, as I did from Stance years ago, that these guys will own towels.)