The story
The name "Rip Curl" was taken from a vee-bottom surfboard that co-founder Warbrick bought in 1968, upon which he'd written "Rip Curl Hot Dog." The words didn't mean anything, he later admitted. "Except ripping was groovy; surfing the curl was groovy; we wanted to be groovy – so that was it."
The company was founded in 1969 by Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer in Torquay, Victoria, Australia, and initially produced surfboards. In 1970, they decided to begin production of wetsuits, with an emphasis on transforming diving technology into a wetsuit suitable for surfing. Alan Green (co-founder of Quiksilver) was a Rip Curl employee in 1969 and developed the first Quiksilver boardshorts at the Rip Curl Factory in April 1970.
In 2019 Tim Baker wrote The Rip Curl Story, a book documenting the company's history. It is described as both a business primer and an adventure story.
In mid-2012, Singer and Warbrick engaged the services of Bank of America Merrill Lynch to sell the brand, but the plan was abandoned in March 2013. In October 2019, Rip Curl was sold to outdoor specialist company Kathmandu.
On 16 August 2021, Rip Curl appointed Brooke Farris as the chief executive officer.
From Wikipedia’s article on Rip Curl, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4