Francisco Spinola is the “Mister Surf” of Portugal. With his business partner Frederico Teixeira, he was the initiator of the Portuguese competitive surfing tour. What was once a small niche has, thanks to them, become a driving force for tourism and economic development with the birth of Surf Schools, Surf camps, hotels and restaurants that all contribute to attracting the international surfing scene to Portuguese shores.
Clément Maulavé and Mathieu Couacault are two surfers who created Hopaal, an apparel company that is trying to have the tiniest footprint possible. Relying on their first success of their “sweater of the future” manufactured from 100% recycled materials, they have recently left Olatu in Anglet to open their first shop in Biarritz, a few hundred meters from the Grande Plage. Truly committed surfers Creating out of what already exists, not digging into resources, which we are constantly reminded how finite they are, not living off credit and avoiding consequences for future generations, not endangering our environment, being clean, working locally, differently. All these positive mottos imply a change in models and require working habits. That and more is what drive the two founders of Hopaal. They are fully committed to the ocean because they love spending time in it and are fully aware that it is high time we started taking action. Their solution is to recycle existing fabric and materials to manufacture their collections. Whether it is plastic collected at sea, production scraps, …
A pioneer of the European surfing industry, Derek O’Neill launched and developed Billabong in Europe for 12 years before taking on the position of International CEO. At 54, he could have closed the door on the industry and spent the rest of his life surfing, but retirement just wasn’t his thing. He returned to Hossegor 3 years ago to develop Vissla, an all new surf brand to “make surfing great again” and so far, things aren’t looking too shabby.
From the famous Cours Florent acting school to a consulting firm, Dune tried her hand at several fields to find her professional path. In 2014, her father created the brand Yoga Searcher and at the ripe age of 25, Dune wound up in charge of the apparel collection and shops.
Originally from New Zealand, Cheyne initially wanted to become a professional rugby player. But in the end, for his career, he eventually turned towards another passion of his: surfing. At 32 years old, he manages Events and Marketing for the World Surf League (WSL) and pro surfing in Europe.
Though Momal and Erwann had met as teenagers surfing on the Basque coast, it was only years later, after Momal had had a career as editor in chief for the boardsports magazine Beach Brother and Erwann had created the cultural magazine Redux that the two decided to launch Hotdogger, a surfing lifestyle magazine.
A skateboarder and surfer since his childhood, Vincent has also always had an eye for fashion. In order to share his lifestyle with others, in 2011 he launched Surfin Estate, a blog with a fresh new take on the rider lifestyle drawing inspiration from fashion, art and music. Four years later, Surfin Estate has become a brand and Vincent and his partners have just recently opened their first concept store in Hossegor.
After working as a sales representative for years, at 40, Arnaud decided to dive into human centric innovation. A unique approach born from his experience in the field, which he passionately shares with all.
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