If you go to the beach more than once a week, you’ve probably heard of Rip Curl. A popular surf brand, Rip Curl has blown up over the years—taking home various awards, making permanent homes in North and South America, Europe, and South Africa, and attaining association with major surf brands Billabong and Quiksilver. Surprisingly, the brand that’s a staple in America was founded in Torquay, Australia in 1969, by Doug Warbrick and Matt Singer, two men with a dream of expanding surfing sportswear. In Rip Curl’s early days, they produced surfboards, but in 1970 they expanded their primary production to wetsuits. In earlier years, they produced bikinis, hats, shirts, and everything else a normal surf brand would make. What makes Rip Curl memorable?
For one, their marketing authenticity and innovation. Warbrick and Singer understood the importance of transforming diving technology into something suitable for surfers, who were their primary focus of business. Wetsuits had started to gain traction in the 50s and 60s, and every surf company was scrambling to produce them (and if you’ve ever been to Santa Cruz, you know just how cold the ocean is). I got my first wetsuit from Rip Curl when I was a little girl, and my dad promptly forgot to buy me booties: wetsuit shoes. Needless to say, when he threw me into the freezing cold North Santa Cruz waters, my feet turned into bright red ice cubes.
As the daughter of a surfer who basically lives in the ocean, we stop in Santa Cruz for a beach break every other weekend. And everybody loves clearance deals, so I’m confident we all agree the 50% off advertisement practically invited my family into taking a look. I tried on two wetsuits when I went a year ago, and it was a high-risk-low-reward process—they were too grippy, too tight, and too hot. But that’s exactly what Rip Curl wanted.
They started their brand campaign called The Search in the 90s, and The Search’s mantra represents adventure and the “endless quest for unridden waves”. Rip Curl employed cinematographer Sonny Miller to create surf films for marketing, making three The Search ads as well as others that gained significant recognition. These films won SIMA (Surf Industry Manufacturers Association—what a mouthful!) awards for Wetsuit of The Year three years in a row, as well as various other SIMA Awards for wetsuits, accessories, boardshorts, and bikinis. Rip Curl also expanded their campaign to bikinis, appropriately titled My Bikini, and took home five SIMA Awards for it. Widespread awareness of the brand for their quality wetsuits sparked interest in the brand, and as a result, Rip Curl blew up, fulfilling Warbrick and SInger’s dream. Their wetsuits finally achieved critical acclaim and solidified them as a trustworthy brand. They have good shirts too!