Ever wonder who the designer is behind your favorite ROXY Outdoor Fitness pieces? Meet Julia Handleman, Senior Designer for ROXY Outdoor Fitness and Women’s Wetsuits. We caught up with Julia before jet-setting off to Hong Kong and Indonesia to discover her inspirations for the Fall/Winter 2014 Outdoor Fitness collection.

ROXY What pieces are you most excited about for Fall/Winter 2014 season?

Julia I’m most excited about the Get Glowing Vest. It’s our twist on a reflective jacket—but cropped and totally on trend. I love it because it’s a great way to interpret a trend in the performance market and in a way that is uniquely ROXY.

ROXY Where do you look for inspiration for designing the line?

Julia I love looking outside of the action sports industry for inspiration, from emerging designers to checking out street style in different locations around the globe. One of my favorite places to shop is Tokyo! Tokyo is really outside of the box when it comes to color, patterns, and prints. The designs are so fashion-forward that you really have to think hard about how you can interpret it for a more mainstream audience. That’s what makes it so fresh!

ROXY What athletes/sports inspire you?

Julia Our ROXY athletes inspire me. Every time I get to work with Rosy, Lisa, Sally or any of our athletes, I’m reminded again how they truly live and embody the ROXY brand every day of their lives.

ROXY How can someone wear ROXY Outdoor Fitness all day? What are some key pieces that can carry you from day to night?

Julia Running tights and yoga leggings are great pieces that you can wear from day to night. You can dress them up with bright accessories and pair them with urban/fashion sneakers to make them work for before or after your actual workout.

ROXY Any moments or funny stories that happened behind the scenes in designing the line?

Julia I work closely with my Product Developer Stephanie Green to create the ROXY Outdoor Fitness line. Steph handles all the communications with factories and makes sure my ideas turn into the garments we sell in our stores. We hang out together, travel together and even sit next to each other in the office! We’re pretty much inseparable and are partners in crime. We started this thing on our Instagram accounts called ‘Double Trouble’ where we recreate the same photo and see who can do the pose better (super dorky, right)? We’re always traveling as part of our job, so it’s a great way to keep our work light and fun!

ROXY What are the biggest trends in women’s fitness apparel that you see happening right now?

Julia The swim-meets-sport fashion category is a big trend is women’s fitness apparel, especially with the popularity of fashion neoprene. A couple of other trends that I love are playing with sheer fabrics, layering, and dropped armhole silhouettes mixed with fun contrast color sports bras. The emergence of very successful small start-up brands in the fitness space is also pushing us forward. As an industry it is forcing us to have more fun and take more risks with design.

Thanks Julia for all of the insight! We are so looking forward to rocking these amazing new designs during our workouts (and in the office) this season!

To shop the new ROXY Outdoor Fitness collection, click here. For some pinspiration, follow our Pinterest board!