---

Meet The Maker | Big Sun

---

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, we sat down with board shaper, clothing designer, novelist and excellent Negroni maker, Ryan Glover, at his Surf Studio home in Mt Maunganui. We chatted about what sustainability in the surfing industry means to him, and his biggest love, Big Sun.

Photo | Ryan Glover

---

What drew you to start Big Sun?

RG: Necessity. At the time the boards I wanted to ride you couldn’t buy from your local surf shop, so I just had to make them myself.

Explain the Big Sun ethos? 

RG: Surfboards are, let's face it, dirty business. But there's a contradiction when it comes to making something that needs to last. I think it's important to design and create products that will stand the test of time. Quality not quantity. I always wanted to create a product that would be found under a bach one day in 40 years and still be just as good as when it was made. 

How do you think surfing brands will evolve over the next decade?

RG: I think it's going back to more backyard/grassroots. Surfing brands are actually surfing brands. Not like, a lot of the big brands now have shops in malls and you can't even buy wax. *laughs* Everything I’ve always done with Big Sun has been out of necessity. Whether it's the boardies or the vests, or the boards - it's always the stuff I couldn’t find so I had to make it myself.

Ryan Glover in the shaping bay

Do you think surfing brands will evolve to be a more sustainable practise or do you think it's stagnant? 

RG:What are we talking about? Surf brands or surf boards?

People who make/design/craft boards.

RG: I think the surf industry which is basically just clothing at the moment, ya know, a lot of those brands make their money by selling clothing is creating a fast fashion industry. 

Surfings not a sport, it's a lifestyle. It's raw. It's basic. It's you, board, wave.

RG: Surfings not a sport its a spiritual lesson, and I believe that. That's why I don’t compete that much. Long boarding is an art form, more of a philosophy than a sport.

“I always wanted to create a product that would be found under a bach one day in 40 years and still be just as good as when it was made.”

Ryan Glover on the tip

Big Sun clothing, talk to us about it?

RG: Yeah we're moving more into clothing. boardies, hemp tee’s, workers coats, trousers that look good on a higher waist silhouette, stuff that interests me that you can’t get.

Is it important to you to try and incorporate sustainability into it?

RG: With the boardies, when I used to work in the clothing industry, as a brand manager and sales rep, it was quite overwhelming when you were selling six collections a year and then by the time it comes out, a year later, so much stuffs already stale. So I think it took me a long time to figure out how I was gonna do the clothing. So the board shorts I spent a lot of time on the cut and fabric, and that’ll be something that can keep going. You don’t have to reinvent yourself every year, I don’t think creatively that’s sustainable. 

No.

RG: I'm always interested in pieces that have stood the test of time, whether its a peacoat or a chore jacket. I like clothes that wear in, ya know, they get better with age, so natural materials like wool and hemp are amazing, or proper cotton, it just gets better when it wears in. It's like the boards, its something that’s gonna last, in years to come it's gonna get better. It's not about stuff being new it's about standing the test of time. Often that stuff is more expensive but I think you’d respect or cherish something that you spent a lot of time deciding what to buy, and you're confident it's gonna last.

Do you think our mindset on fast fashion needs to change?

RG: Yeah definitely. Buy better, buy local, buy less.

Do you think the process of making a board can turn towards a sustainable model?

RG: I've done a little bit of research. The materials are most harmful to the people making surfboards. I would like to use more eco-friendly materials, but so far the technology is not quite there and quality is sacrificed. You can use wood instead of foam but them weigh becomes and issue. There's eco resins in our epoxy boards. There's a local company that’s making fibreglass out of wool which I thought was really interesting. I’ve always thought it could be cool to invent like.. blanks out of a loaf of bread or something. *laughs*

Where do you see Big Sun in the future?

RG: Same. At the beach. *laughs*

To check out his handy work, you can visit his Big Sun home here

@bigsunsurf

@ryanmglover