Gul lands in SA

In the early sixties, over 50 years ago, young Cornish surfer Dennis Cross made the first Gul wetsuit (a jacket with beaver tail and separate trousers), apparently in the back of his split screen VW kombi, at Fistral Beach, Newquay, England.

A lot has changed over the last 50 years and Chris Bertish should know. A marketing graduate, Chris has looked after brands such as Billabong and O'Neill, while also being the Apparel Brand Manager for Gul in the UK, over the last 14 years. He now takes on the role of Distibutor for Gul International, in South Africa.

With his experience in the pounding, frigid waters of the Cape, and his experience in designing a streamlined flotation vest for fellow big wave riders, Chris knows about the need and technology for the so-called "steamer" (Gul's 1970s one-piece wetsuit was named ‘The Steamer’ due to the steam that came from your wetsuit when removing it, and the term is now part of the surfing vernacular).

With his experience in the pounding, frigid waters of the Cape, and his experience in designing a streamlined flotation vest for fellow big wave riders, Chris knows about the need and technology for the so-called "steamer" (Gul's 1970s one-piece wetsuit was named ‘The Steamer’ due to the steam that came from your wetsuit when removing it, and the term is now part of the surfing vernacular).

Chris has managed to build the range from Gul’s extensive International Wetsuit range, while also being able to add and change some of the suits in the range to fit/suit the South African market and its fridged waters of the Cape, which is really unique.

"Its pretty exciting being able to build a range of suits from Gul's extensive range and then be able to tweak, adjust and create new styles into the range, for our specific conditions we have in South Africa and even more so for our ridged Cape Town waters. We will continue to build and develop the range with Gul, for what our surfers want hear in Cape Town & the Garden Route and eventually for the rest of South Africa."

"Gul makes phenominal cold water wetsuits at very competitive prices, with a great margin for the retailers and so far the sales of the suits from the outset has been amazing on the suits, we’re really battling to keep up, which is always a great sign from the get go. We'll continue to grow the brand slowly and steadily in the country over the next couple of years and diversify the range into different areas and categories as we move forward."

You can get yours only at the key, core surf stores in the Western Cape like: Lifestyle, Sunset Surf, Natural Energy, Vudu Surf, Expressions, Great White & Walker Bay.

http://www.gul.com/wetsuits/1/
 
Any queries from stores interested in stocking the brand for Summer 14, please contact either:

Chris Bertish - Owner/Director
Cell: 079 524 8344        
Email: Chris.cmbagencies@gmail.com

or

Krystal-Tavenor - National Sales Manager
Cell: 079 514 9767
Email: krystal.cmbagencies@gmail.com
More about Gul
After the breakthrough two piece wetsuit designed by Dennis Cross in the early sixties, and the next big innovation of the ‘The Steamer’ in the 70s, the business continued to grow and by the 1980’s Gul expanded its business into Europe and the rest of the world, supplying all the growing watersports markets. Since its inception Gul has produced in excess of 4 million wetsuits to surfers around the world. Gul has become synonymous with quality, innovation and performance. For over 40 years we have been at the forefront of surf wetsuit design and continue to develop new and exciting products for you, the surfer.