For years, the wakeboard industry has always seemed a little behind the times, for so long it has seemed to have taken the worn path rather than the road less travelled, leaving us with that feeling that styles repeatedly get recycled for another year. When Follow began making jackets 3 years ago, i personally thought here we go another jacket brand doing the same old thing, well fair to say i got it wrong in a big way, Follow was the beginning of a new era that has tipped the industry upside down, forcing companies to change they're outlook drastically.
For years the industry was dominated by ugly screen printing, 2 tone block colours big core branded imagery and even for a time we we're bombarded by the likes of motocross style design. The industry mellowed out a little bit after this and cut back went simple and clean, at this point Follow had manifested itself from an idea into a range of jackets, one style, block colours, clean, simple and fresh, it was a new brand that didn't bother anyone but did it's job as being something new. It wasn't until season 3 that we saw Follow bring out a level of diversity that the wakeboard industry had never seen, going against the grain that was Jetpilot and Ripcurl, Follow began using unique styles, alternative logos and with the use of sublimated printing began to create a style that could become synonymous with they're brand. Their use of sublimation, brought about unique designs, no only looking into the future like the unique shred town graphic, with the cable park map on the back of it, but also stepped into the past, with camo designs and taking the guts to design a straight up single colour sandstone jacket, which had never been done before and was one of the quickest colour ways to disappear of shelves.
With some unique intuition and insight and a desire to change the face of design within wakeboarding, Follow was born, taking cues directly from the clothing design markets to provide a completely new face for wakeboarding, with patterns that no other company dare go along with for fear that they would turn out a bust. For Follow this dare to dream mentality has paid high dividends, in the space of its short life span they have cemented themselves within the industry, rapidly rising the ranks and taking on the giants of the rubber world, rivalling the likes of core brands Ripcurl and Jetpilot for sales.
Follow's desire to take wakeboarding in a new and fresh direction provides a basis for wakeboarding to start a fresh page, rather than simply sticking to the safe and trekking down the path less travelled, designed for the next generation who are quickly becoming engrained in an urban wakeboard scene that is quietly growing.
Written by
Charles Xavier