Writing The Book On The Surf Industry

Andrew Warren, a post-doctoral researcher in economic geography at the University of Wollongong and Chris Gibson, a professor of Human Geography at the UofW are apparently writing a book on the surf industry. When the news came out Ripcurl is hoping to join the sell-out crew, the to academics decided it was the perfect time to promote their new book, Surfing Places, Surfboard Makers: Craft, Creativity and Cultural Heritage in Hawai’i, California and Australia (University of Hawai’i Press), with a web post titled, All washed up: have surf megabrands forgotten their roots? on The Conversation blog.

In the book, Warren and Gibson postulate that there is much more to this than a fashion disaster.

In our new book on the surf industry, to be published next year by University of Hawaii Press, we make the point that, like music, it is a subcultural industry defined by a tension between “major” corporate labels and smaller “independents”. Independent labels have more credibility because they are considered closer to the grassroots of surfing culture. They are often based in specific surf cities and regions – southern California, the Gold Coast, north shore O’ahu – where surf subcultures are strong. . . When brands grow and expand, they take on the character of corporate enterprises.

Nothing we haven’t heard before, but it’s always interesting to read an intelligent discussion of the coming end of surf fashion. Click the link for the rest.

[Link: The Conversation]