Rip Curl was well established by the late 80s. But a lot had changed since Brian Singer and Claw Warbrick founded the company in 1969. What it meant to be a surfer seemed to have been flipped on its head.
“We were looking for a way to describe ourselves to surfers and customers which illustrated who we really were as a group of people,” says Brian. “How we had always been and how we wanted to continue to be at Rip Curl.”
The Evolution of Surf Culture.
When Brian and Claw started, surfboards were shortening dramatically. The freedom movement of the early 70s encouraged people to live the life of travel and adventure. Many surfers moved out of the cities to live on farms, or in tree houses. Alby Falzon’s Morning of The Earth captured the ethos of this era perfectly.
But, a play-hard lifestyle still had its appeal. In 1973, The Bells Easter Rally became the Rip Curl Pro. Even the hippies realised it was acceptable to express yourself in a contest and earn a few dollars for the after party. Michael Peterson, Rabbit Bartholemew and others were busting down the door, turning surfing into a profession.
At the time, Brian and Claw had many philosophical discussions about surfing culture. Where was it heading? How could they read the winds of change and stay ahead of the pack?
“We thought that after a decade of greed and money, money, money in the ’80s that people might reject that in the ’90s and in some way go back to some of the values of the ’70s,”
“And underneath we genuinely believed that the true spirit of surfing and the behaviors of surfers and what they really liked, had not changed all that much,”
The pair tested these ideas with advice from magazine editors around the world. They spoke with the likes of Steve Pezman and Jeff Divine at Surfer, Bob Mignona and Larry “Flame” Moore at Surfing, Bruce Channon and Hugh McLeod at Surfing World and Gary Dunne at Tracks. Everyone was in agreement. Surfers were, at heart, about adventure and good times. There was still nothing better than escaping the crowds to find an empty line up with just a few friends. Experiencing different cultures. Escaping the 9 to 5 rat race. Hunting for undiscovered waves. Maybe finding a party or two along the way.