Rip Curl
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| Private company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Torquay, Australia |
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Key people
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Doug Warbrick (founder) Brian Singer (founder) François Payot (founder and director) Michael Daly (CEO) Kelly Gibson (President and CEO of Rip Curl USA) |
| Products | surfing gear & apparel |
| Website | Rip Curl website |
Rip Curl is a major Australian designer, manufacturer, and retailer of surfing sportswear (also known as boardwear) and accompanying products, and a major athletic sponsor. Rip Curl has become one of the largest board wear brands in Australia, Europe and South America, and is also active in North America and South Africa. Globally, Rip Curl is considered a member of the "Big Three", of the surf industry alongside Quiksilver and Billabong.
Rip Curl is a private company and, as of December 2013, Michael Daly is the chief executive officer (CEO) of Rip Curl Group.
The name "Rip Curl" was taken from a vee-bottom surfboard that co-founder Warbrick bought in 1968, upon which he'd written "Rip Curl Hot Dog." The words didn't mean anything, he later admitted. "Except ripping was groovy; surfing the curl was groovy; we wanted to be groovy – so that was it."
The company was founded in 1969 by Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer in Torquay, Victoria, Australia, and initially produced surfboards. In 1970, they decided to begin production of wetsuits, with an emphasis on transforming diving technology into a wetsuit suitable for surfing. Alan Green (co-founder of Quiksliver) was a Rip Curl employee in 1969 and developed the first Quiksilver boardshorts at the Rip Curl Factory in April 1970.
In mid-2012, Singer and Warbrick engaged the services of Bank of America Merrill Lynch to sell the brand, but the plan was abandoned in March 2013.
Rip Curl is responsible for one of the most powerful campaigns in surfing history: The Search.
Pivotal surf films by legendary filmmaker Sonny Miller were created as part of the Search campaign: The Search (1992) The Search II (1993) Beyond the Boundaries: The Search III (1994) Feral Kingdom (1995) Tripping the Planet (1996) and Searching for Tom Curren (1996), which was awarded Video of the Year by Surfer magazine in 1997. In 2015 Rip Curl relaunched the Search.
Rip Curl is known for manufacturing technical products and innovation in the surf industry. Rip Curl's "FlashBomb Wetsuit" won three consecutive SIMA (Surf Industry Manufacturers Association) awards for "Wetsuit of the Year" in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Rip Curl's Marketing Campaign "My Bikini" took home the SIMA Award for "Women's Campaign of the Year" in 2013 and 2014
Rip Curl Received 2015 SIMA awards for: Women’s Marketing Campaign of the Year - My Bikini Wetsuit Brand of the Year – Flash Bomb Zip Free Accessory Product of the Year – SearchGPS Watch Women’s Swim Brand of the Year Men’s Boardshort of the Year – Mirage MF Driven
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