I have to admit to loving a spot of Finisterre clothing (apart from their unethical years when they outsourced to India and China) but I'm starting to lose faith in the business. I realise the balancing act between ethics and profit is a difficult one and is faced by many of those in the surf industry (a key reason why Kelly Slater has moved away from Quiksilver etc) but I can't help but feel that the actual surfer is being lost in a sea of middle-class pretenders.
OK, the Finisterre clothing range is expensive but it does do a good job and the team at the front end do a fab customer care job but they are slowly turning into a fashion brand for those who like to pretend to be 'cold water surfers'. If you check out their website, as well as the usual clothing and expensive undercrackers, they now stock a range of fashion accessories that will beautifully coordinate with your iPhone 6S and iMac. So not to put off this market, the items are equally overpriced. A waterproof torch for £90, which apart from the logo seems below the spec of any aluminium diving watch for almost half the price. A pen-knife that for all the packaging and wooden handle isn't a patch on the original British Army folding-knife that sells for a third of the £90 they're asking. Just don't get me started on the duffle bag (£150 ..... what?!) and hand planes!
All-in-all, I fear that my friends and I are turning away from the brand (remember Howies when they were bought out by Timberland) and looking for a real brand that reflects the surfing image and not just those that live in London (have I said that their main store is in London).
As a surfer, I look to buy as many items as possible direct from Surfers Against Sewage and luckily, many of the gifts available from Finisterre are also available in a SAS version (drinking bottles, towels etc).
I'm not anti-profit but price-skimming at the wealthy market segment seems to go completely against the surfing-grain (have you seen the price of their upcoming wetties?).
For me, I'm going to have to be shopping elsewhere as prices are increasingly prohibitive and the products themselves are becoming irrelevant to me as a water sportsman and cyclist. Howies is looking like a far better option (especially since they are now an ethically minded and independent company) and even though a high price (like Patagonia) seems to give me something Finisterre just isn't - VALUE FOR MONEY!
Sorry but this has been bugging me for a while.
Don't lose who you are Finisterre!
