Wilco Prins: brands, blanks & trends

Episode #24 (English).

Guest: Wilco Prins, co-founder T&C Surf Designs Europe, former Rip Curl Europe CEO and EuroSIMA President

Wilco Prins is a pure product of Dutch youth who, much like all the other kids in Europe at that time, got into action sports in the 80’s and 90’s through windsurfing, skateboarding and eventually surfing.

One fine day of 1992, his passion drove him all the way to French beaches, where he discovered our waves and the lifestyle he’d read about in surfing magazines.

After starting out at Rip Curl as an intern (waxing boards for Patrick Beven for a photo shoot), he quickly climbed the corporate ladder: first as Footwear Product Manager for Europe, then Head of the « wetsuits and footwear » division, then « Core Division » Manager (products and sales) and in 2013, he became the company’s CEO.

At the head of one of the leading companies in the industry, the Dutchman also took over for Fred Basse as EuroSIMA President, becoming, for one term, the spokesperson for the entire European action sports industry.

After the Torquay-born brand let him go in 2019, Wilco bounced right back, giving a « re-birth » in Europe to another iconic brand : T&C. This new adventure, both so similar and so different from the last one, was once again driven by the same passion for boardsports and a genuine knack for business. Relaunched post-Covid, the brand with a strong Hawaiian heritage has found itself a new place in retail as well as in the hearts of consumers. This is thanks to a strategy boosted among other things, by unique collaborations, like recently with Fursac.

Wilco sat down with us for a chat to talk about his many years at Rip Curl and his new experience with T&C. Along the way, he shares his analysis of the industry, markets and customer expectations and discusses the challenges that we’ll all have to face in upcoming years.

A fascinating episode with a key player in our industry.

Recorded in the MACS premises in St Vincent de Tyrosse on April 3rd 2025.

Editorial production: EuroSIMA

Animation: Romain Ferrand / Rémi Chaussemiche