This Is What’s Wrong With The Surf Industry | Too big, too white, too souless
Ok so that leading pic wasn’t the latest SIMA conference down in Cabo, but it may as well have been. It seems that is how out of touch with the worlds current reality the surf industry is. Despite MAGA’s wishes, the world is globalizing and surf cannot remain a rich old white dude culture anymore.
Bobby Hundreds is a damn smart dude. Like The Hundreds or not he may have some answers.
Sample:
In that sense, I may be the right speaker for a surf summit. Because, I am the consumer. I am, almost embarrassingly, one of those people whose lives revolve around surf. Who plans his family’s vacations around surfing, much to their dismay. Yet, I’m also the guy who shies away from that ID: “Surfer.” Surf is the axis by which my world revolves, yet I don’t feel a connection with any of the brands or markers that designate surf culture. This makes no sense to me. Especially as someone who designs apparel, whose life’s work is dedicated to tying communities to brands.
And I’m not alone. Most everyone I surf with wouldn’t dress in a “surf” label outside of what they wear in the water. Surfers have nearly doubled in the last 15 years[1], yet the marketplace for surf product has dwindled and the industry is under duress[2]. Even many of the sponsored athletes would prefer to wear something trendier than, or less identifiable as, the traditional surf brand that pays their bills.
There are many reasons for this and it would take ten essays to comb through them all.
Click to THE HUNDREDS for What Surf Needs to Learn.
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