Wetsuits

Alder Wetsuits was one mans dream, originating from his passion for surfing.

Over 40 years ago, Bob Westlake began to surf around the west coast of England. He soon discovered a niche in the surfing market, with a lack of Californian style surfing wear being available in the 60’s he recruited the help of his wife to make some of the UK’s first homegrown boardshorts. Bob’s dream and Annie’s work has today become Alder Sportswear.

Started way back in 1977 by Gordon Merchant and his wife Billabong is one of the original surf companies Like so many others from their humble beginnings stitching together boardshorts Billabong have grown into one of the industry giants, sponsoring many of the top 44 surfers and some of the WCT & WQS events.

C-Skins is one of the new kids on the wetsuit block but they have some long running heritage. Carey Brown, one of C-Skins founders together with his uncle Dennis Cross designed and manufactured the first ever surfing steamers in Europe. C-Skins has been growing in strength and reputation since its birth.

Founded by Jack O’Neill in 1952 O’Neill wetsuits is the original wetsuit company. Jack wanted to surf longer and so developed the world’s first neoprene wetsuit, the starting point for all wetsuits. O’Neill still continue to be innovative and many of the features that we take for granted on the modern wetsuit have their roots in this Santa Cruz based company.

Patagonia although a long established company with a rich history is a newcomer to the wetsuit market. Patagonia have applied their design process and ethos to the traditional wetsuit and R series is the result. A wetsuit series that is Warmer, Fast Drying, Durable and Environmentally Conscious.

Rip Curl today is another of the surf industry giants but when it was founded way back in 1969 by Doug “Claw” Warbrick and Brian “Sing Ding” Singer it was just another small outfit run by surfers trying to get by. In 1970 the company changed its focus to wetsuits and in the forty plus years since have continued to innovate the wetsuit design process.

Most wetsuit companies have their origins in cold water locations but Xcel was founded in Hawaii by Ed D’Ascoli. Working from his bedroom overlooking the famous wave at Sunset beach Ed based his company around a product development ethos that remains with company today. In 2007 and 2008, Xcel was awarded consecutive “Wetsuit of the Year” titles from the Surf Industry Manufacturer’s Association (SIMA) and signalled Xcel’s arrival as a major player.