Wilco Prins: brands, blanks & trends

Wilco Prins: brands, blanks & trends

From Inside Eurosima Podcast by Inside Eurosima Podcast

July 31, 2025 · 2h 12m

About this episode

Wilco Prins discusses his journey in the action sports industry and the relaunch of T&C Surf Designs in Europe.

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…

People in this episode

Guest: Wilco Prins

Topics covered

  • action sports
  • surfing
  • business
  • brand management
  • European market

Keywords

  • Wilco Prins
  • T&C Surf Designs
  • Rip Curl
  • EuroSIMA
  • action sports
  • surfing
  • business

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: T&C Surf Designs Europe, Rip Curl, EuroSIMA

Places: Dutch, French beaches

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