Rip Curl’s 50th Anniversary Party Hossegor

RIP CURL 50TH ANNIVERSARY Born at Bells

Here in Europe, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Rip Curl the whole European crew, the founders and the senior global management came together for an afternoon of presentations and Q and A’s followed by a party until the early hours of the morning.  

For the afternoon first up was Mathieu Lefin Rip Curl General Manager of Operations and recently appointed Rip Curl’s European President.  He introduced us to the days proceedings before handing over to Michael Daly Rip Curl CEO who in his welcoming speech gave us an update on the companies progress and took us through Rip Curl’s guiding principles and key values. He was followed on stage by Neil Ridgway Rip Curl’s Chief Brand and Marketing Officer who delved into the underlying brand values and went through the brand priorities for 2019/20. Fewer and better messages with a global resonance from the ultimate surfing company will be the chief communication goal, while in products the women’s side is to be pushed harder and with more focus. Whilst in events the Search remains the key. Then it was time to hear, from 3 times world surfing champion, Mick Fanning on how he was able to maintain his competitive focus throughout his competitive career. This was followed by a Q and A with Mick. Then after a quick break it was the turn of founders Doug “Claw” Warbrick and Brian Singer and Europe’s Francois Payot to sit back and enjoy  a Q and A session with Neil Ridgway. We then watched the European premier of Mason Ho’s Through the Doggy Door. This is The story of Hawaiian Sheldon Paishon’s rise from poverty to pro surfer, sponsored by Rip Curl. Next up was a sneak peak of some of Unstoppable , the movie being released on the inspirational Bethany Hamilton.

A second quick break and its product time. Starting with a presentation from Jean-Seb Estienne, EMEA Marketing, Digital and E-Commerce Manager on and then a showing of the key franchise video.

Jonathan Cetran head of technical product for Europe then took the stage and introduced us to s/s 2020 product line with Stephane Moretti detailing the men’s surf apparel and Katherine Prior the women’s surf apparel. And finally a fashion show emphasising what’s best from Rip Curl in these categories for s/s 2020. The afternoon was rounded off with a group photo of all the participants,

A couple of hours later the party kicked of in a warehouse at Rip Curls EMEA HQ in Hossegor.  Drink, Food, music and good times were on tap till the early hours as the large number of guestscelebrated the success of the brand through the decades.