Doug Warbrick and Brian singer first started Rip Curl during the 60's.
The company originally was making surfboards and did quite well in the highly competitive market of the time, but in the 70's, they made a change they took them from a good company, and made them into a great company.
They saw the needs of the surfers, and knowing what the surfers wanted, ventured into making wetsuits. The first wetsuits by Rip Curl where made in a small house in Torquay that Doug and
Boitier Montre Rip Curl
Montre Rip Curl
Brian HotDog StandBrian bought. They also got themselves an old sewing machine and started cutting out the parts. Of course, by what we see today the wetsuits they made then were very primitive in their design, but due to the research they had done before making them, they were able to make them suit what a surfer wanted. After awhile, the company name "Rip Curl" actually formed when one of the surfers wrote on his board "Rip Curl".
Rip Curl through their times have had to make some choices in what they do. After surfboards and wetsuits they thought they should try venturing into other products. They brought out "Surf Wear" which came about when surfers said they needed something to wear once they got out of the water. Watches were another business opportunity that the company seized in a bid to stay in the market, which were released about the same time as the Rip Curl Mountainwear (Late 80's).
Going international is a decision that almost every business faces if their products are good enough, and thankfully with all the pro surfers from other countries spreading the Rip Curl word, it was a lot easier for Rip Curl to enter the international market. The first thing that went overseas were the...