MEET SALT GYPSY, THE AUSTRALIAN MADE WOMEN'S SURFWEAR BRAND CRAFTING A CULTURE AND COMMUNITY TO BE PROUD OF.
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WORDS BY LISA KJERULF
The story of Salt Gypsy began long before there was a product concept or even a business idea. In fact, when Danielle Clayton, a passionate surfer from New Zealand, began making surf leggings for herself out of pure need, she never dreamed that 4 years down the road this would lead to a globally recognised label creating incremental change from the bottom up.
THE SPARK.
“I WAS STARTING TO THINK OH MY GOD THIS IS RIDICULOUS I’M SICK OF GETTING SUNBURNT AND ALL I CAN REALLY BUY IS MAINSTREAM SURF LABELS WHICH I DIDN’T PARTICULARLY WANT TO BE BUYING.”
In the beginning the motivation for Danny to start creating her product was personal. She loved the sunshine but she didn’t like the harmful UV rays. She had reached her threshold. With little success finding proper leggings made for surfing, she finally had a few custom-made.
Soon after, she hosted a boatful of surfer ladies who were having the very same complaints. Empathising with them, she said, “Oy, chuck these on!” The girls loved them so much that they used them for the rest of the trip and that’s when Danny knew she had something special.