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Mauricio celebrates 20 years of South to South
The completion of the Winter 2008 range is a significant milestone in the life of South to South as it reaches 20 years of production.
When did STS start up
South to South officially started its activities in October, 1989.
Why did you start STS?
I started South to South at 16, in the pursuit of the dream of making a living working with something directly connected to surfing, which I had already embraced as my sport, my life as well as my lifestyle, my religion and my passion just to name a few; so I thought if I could only have my own surfware brand, I'd be able to live my life close to what I back then had and today have always considered to be the only thing that would bring me happiness and a sense of satisfaction - Surfing; therefore I can say that the idea was born from an adoloscent's dream!
I also thought that there was no sense in everybody wearing the same brands, (Australian and American ones), considering such a tremendous cultural gap within these people.
Brazil has got an 8,000 km - shore line, a year-round tropical climate, a great population concentration living in beach cities, and let's not forget the fact that Brazilians are in general happy and involving people by nature and perhaps one of the biggest beach influenced cultures in the world; with that in mind, I've decided to have an authentic, 100% surf driven, Brazilian brand, featuring our own identity!
Who was involved in the start up?
Before it all started, there was a surfboard factory near my house, this was a small back-yard factory, where the shaper was a friend of mine and used to manufacture (in a very small scale and with very limited resources), surfboards by the name of South to South - he then asked me if I wanted to produce South to South t-shirts - I was about 14, turning 15 when I accepted his offer... from that moment on my clothing business in the surfware segment has never stopped. I ended up acquiring 100% of the South to South brand, because he started manufacturing surfboards for another brand, selling me the rights to the board making of the brand.
What did you produce to begin with?
We basically started producing T-shirts.
Where were you based?
To be honest with you, if you look back to the very first days of South to South's existance, it all started inside the house I lived with my family and its operations started inside my own bedroom. In about 3 years time, we moved to a house, after that we moved to an open-floor, non office kind of space and so on, till we moved to a factory of over 2600 sq meters in which we are now located, in Sao Paulo - Brazil.
How did the business progress from the start to today
The love of surfing, the love for Brazil, the commitment to the sport as well as lifestyle, professionalism, hard, hard work, creativity, persistancy, the endless search for excellence and for the correct way of doing things, and perhaps a little bit of luck; as well as an enormous wish to produce something different from what was available out there, therefore giving Brasilians an opportunity to "ride, wear and enjoy" a 100% Brasilian surfbrand.
Who owns STS today?
I've kept ownership of the brand and the business from the beginning.
How many staff does STS employ?
South to South currently employes about 65 employees directly, and somewhere between 350 - 400 indirect employees, who work in different areas of the business/brand.
What key manufacturing processes do you source outside STS? Is there a long relationship with any of these?
All the embroidering, stamping and laundering outlets.
For sure! We've been developing partnerships throughout these 18 years, always keeping our eyes open for new outsourcing providers and services, and never forgetting the important side of the business, which is investing in new technologies. As far as our suppliers who have been rendering or outsourcing their services or goods for longer, we can surely say that they've met and gone beyond our standards for style, quality and production.
What is the STS eco policy?
We at South to South find ourselves very much involved with the issues which make people not only aware, but also proactive when it comes to the preservation of the environment.
We've designed a collection, specially dedicated to this, called "Eco" - featuring products which are manufactured from organic, non toxic material, natural fibers, etc... In the future the "Eco" line of products is going to feature a bigger scope of items, due to the inherent appealing nature of its philosophy.
On a more proactive side of the equation, we currently run programs in which we promote collective actions, such as cleaning beaches, where we do everything possible to make the surfers aware of the importance of keeping the beaches and the oceans clean. We recently had one such action which took place at Itamambuca Beach, in Ubatuba, Sao Paulo, where we were able to collect and properly dispose of 11 - yes, eleven tons of trash. In yet another attempt to preserve what's left of our Native Flora, we've been to Santa Catarina where we've promoted a "Cleaning Day Galore" within the local community.
The people behind South to South believe in self-consciousness and proactivity!
Regarding STS sponsorship of athletes (we call them riders) - how did this start?
We've always had riders in our team - since the creation of the brand. We've always believed in sponsoring riders. "Supporting the riders who have chosen our sport." This is our motto.
I know that you sponsored a landmark event some years ago that helped revive the interest in Brasil for surfing (and made a movie about it) can you give more details?
What happened was that we had a tournament/fraternal event, where we paid a special tribute to those who had made history for the Brasilian Surf. It was an especially gratifying event, full of strong and vivid emotions. some referred to it as a milestone for Brasilian Surfing. People from several surf generations gathered, thus sharing their own past surfing competition experiences, and everything else related to surfing, with their families. The true surf spirit/philosophy was strongly present.
Where is your sponsorship going today - are you drifting away from sponsoring competitive surfers and towards free surfers?
We had a phase where we didn't have a top, professional rider in our team, who reflected our brand and its philosophy; while our free-surf team as well as our big wave riders are regarded as of Top World level - that's the reason why they have a bigger exposure right now. Our intention is to have, once more, a full roster of top notch, professional riders; so once again having a full range of riders - Amateurs, Young Talents, Big Riders, Free Style Surfers, Professional Riders - all of them aligned with the brand's commitment - both inside and outside the water, being role models, truly practicing the South to South way of living, which is: "Surfing is our lives, kindness, freedom, style, respect and a positive atitude inside and outside the water"
We've just signed a contract with a new rider, who meets all the criteria that we need - he's a professional rider, 2004 Brazilian Champion, runs the WQS, he actually won the Newquay/Britain round in 2005 4 stars. His name's Renato Galvao, we're very happy we hired him to our team of riders. He's top notch and he also has the South to South way of being.
Where are you planning to take STS in the future?
I firmly believe the sky is the limit! I also think that the world deserves to have a 100% Brazilian, nothing but surf atitude brand. Enough of the same old stuff. Today you walk into any surfware store in Japan, California, France, Australia, Africa, etc... and you'll see the same board-shorts at the store window. The world is not the same, why should surfwear be?
I believe South to South can still be original, without losing its Brazilian identity, thus being able to make their clients feel special throughout the world!
Turning the brand "International" is part of our current plans.
Can you comment on the significance of your new link with the UK?
England has never been considered to be on my list of foreign surfing destinations, up untill now, that is!!! I'm extremely excited with the launch of the South to South UK brand and with the people involved in this whole UK project! These are people who have an incredible positive attitude towards this new venture, and this very same attitude they radiate, if you will, contaminated me, (in a very positive way), making me feel good sensations over this UK project. I hope I'll be able to get to know and experience this cultural exchange, thus sharing good experiences mutually!