Brand Profile: 'Bamboo Bay'
TVSC: Hi Ludi, can you please give us an overview on when, how, where and why the company began
Ludi: The company started a couple of years ago when me and my partner/girlfriend had just finished doing a winter season and wanted to live in Brighton for the summer. We love the extreme sports industry and wanted to be involved with it even though we were not doing a winter or summer season at that time. We noticed some of our favourite brands were doing ethical collections but they were sparse and hard to find. Our original plan was to start a shop in Brighton just selling ethical runs from these brands making it easy for people to get them all together. After research into shops and costs and the current economical climate we decided it was not a good time to do it so we set out to start our own brand instead and be ethically conscious in our whole range rather than just bits and bobs. The main reason we love snowboarding, surfing, skating etc is because of the places it takes you and the people you meet. We wanted to make sure we were having a positive impact on the industry and our environment which gave us these beautiful places to play.
TVSC: Who is on the management team, and what are their backgrounds?
Ludi: The management team consists of me (Ludi), my girlfriend Amy and our good friend Ooosh who does most of the web stuff. Me and Amy met in Austria on a winter season about 5 years ago and went on to do more seasons in Whistler and the Alps and also summers in Hossegor, SW France. We love the lifestyle and want to make a living from doing what we enjoy. Oosh is an old friend and is a wizzkid on the computer and also has a passion for the industry and style of clothing that we are involved in. He is always on hand when stuff goes wrong and is a massive help!
TVSC: What is the company ethos?
Ludi: Our company ethos is "Riding is in our nature" which is saying that we need our nature to do these sports that we love doing so thats why we try to always use ethical and sustainable materials. As for as our personal ethos goes, we just want to have fun and keep meeting like minded people while shredding and traveling as much as possible.
TVSC: What sets you apart from your competitors?
Ludi:We are set apart from other brands because of our ethical values and also I think our style is quite a bit different, we don’t want to just go along with what everyone else is doing at the time. We could, and it would probably make it a fair bit easier for us but we like to be original and design things that we would wear ourselves. We don’t have one set style and we like to mix it up a bit.
TVSC: Could you tell us about in your environmental credentials?
Ludi: Being ethical isn’t easy, unfortunately there is less choice for us and it is much more expensive to use the materials we want. We stick to it though and manage to keep our prices very competitive. We believe in what we have and think it’s good, high quality stuff and hopefully people get that and enjoy having a ethical choice. We use materials such as bamboo, hemp, organic cotton, wool and tencel. It’s not just about the materials its also about the workers who make them so we always try to use companies and factories who treat their workers well and give them fair pay.
TVSC: What do you most enjoy about skating/surfing/snowboarding in the UK ?
Ludi: Surfing in the UK is really underrated and there are some amazing waves out there. We used to live on the Isle of Wight and they get some great days as well as the more known spots in Devon and Cornwall. There are gems all over the place. I have never snowboarded in the UK but I want to check out a park day at Hemel Hempstead and would love to trek up to Scotland just to see what its like. I hear it can be surprising the amount of snow they get some years. As far as skating goes, I used to spend most my time when I was younger rolling around the streets with friends, waxing up curbs and just messing about but most of the skate parks were pretty rubbish. We built our own mini in our back garden at one house I lived at and that was great fun. (Till I went on it really drunk one night and somehow managed to snap my arm). Now though, there are great skateparks popping up all over the place, like the new one in Brighton! It’s designed by the local skaters so its not just a couple of metal ramps plonked randomly onto some concrete. Its all made from smooth concrete and even has floodlights to skate late in the winter.
TVSC: How do you support UK athletes and the wider skate/surf/snow community?
Ludi: We love to get involved with board riders community in the UK we sponsor a couple of uni Ski/Snowboard comities. We have sponsored some events in the Alps and in Hossegor, as we grow we will be getting involved with as many projects as possible.
TVSC: What do you see for the future of your company?
Ludi: Looking forward, we want to be able to bring a bigger choice to our range and get involved with more competitions/events and get a solid team of riders together. We want to grow as a company and get more like minded people on board who want to work hard and have loads of fun in the process. We never really set out to be a huge company and make millions upon millions, if we can sustain a good lifestyle and keep riding and doing the things we love then we are happy.
TVSC: What do you see for the future of the industry in the UK?
Ludi: With all the new skateparks and the increasing interest in indoor and dry ski slopes as well as our amazing home grown athletes who are getting world wide recognition like Jamie Nicholls and Jenny Jones etc I think the industry is going from strength to strength and we want to be involved as much as possible.
TVSC: Anything we should look out for?
Ludi: We have an event called “She rides” coming up. It’s happening on the 11th of March in the Moon Park, Meribel. It’s a day in the park just for girls, it doesn’t matter what standard you are at or how much time, if any, you spend in the park. There are top instructors on hand to teach and assist and its all about getting girls in the park and building confidence, as well as meeting other girls to ride with. It’s a very social event and there is a big BBQ and an after party with prizes donated by us and other brands. If people are around that area get involved the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/SheRidesFreesessions
TVSC: Awesome, and where can we check out your videos/stuff?
Ludi: You can check out our Facebook page /bamboobayuk or our instagram @bamboobay to keep up to date with all our goings on.
TVSC: Thanks Ludi!
You can check out Bamboo Bays rad selection of eco threads at www.TVSC.co/collections/bamboo-bay