A New-Look Caity Simmers & A New Way To Drown Out The Noise

In partnership with Skullcandy.

Skullcandy have been pumping beats into the ear canals of surfing’s tastemakers since the noughties glory years, and they’re only getting heavier (on the bass). 

Being the action sports world’s fav in direct-to-ear gear has never been enough for Skullcandy — rather, having fun with branding, design, colours and concepts have long been a key part of their overall strategy. A key way they’ve done this is by selecting some of the more windswept and interesting members of the surfing tribe to slap a skull sticker on the deck, and in 2025, there are few surfers in our world more organic and arresting than your 2024 World Champion Caity Simmers. 

Caity’s won everything, including the top prize, but it’s her freesurfing that’s really captivated the hearts and minds of the greater surfing public. Numerous women (16, to be precise) have grabbed a World Title over the years, but few enter into the Steph realm of being a must-watch in whatever they drop. Caity — at the tender age of 19, no less — is thoroughly in that camp. Why? Because she’s got that ineffable talent to make a surfboard just…go, in a manner that’s just a little more effortless, dynamic and stylish than most. 

In honour of one of the most refreshing surfers to hit our screens in recent years, Skullcandy has released a signature pair of its ear-drum thumping Crusher Eve headphones (seriously, we’ve got a box at the office and these puppies rattle the skull in the best possible way — stick on Yousuke Yukimatsu’s scorched earth Boiler Room set and thank us later). However, unlike the usual “Say hello to your new signature product surf team rider number 4679”, Skullcandy and Caity have been going back and forth for over a year (the first time Caity’s been involved in such a signature project) on everything from the tartan to the packaging, and finally, the wonderfully concept-heavy campaign shoot you’ll see dotted throughout these promotional musings. 

“I honestly have a hard time being myself in a bikini or any piece of swimwear,” Caity told Stab early last month, but who gives a damn when you look this good in tweed, corduroy and wool. Straight out of the King of Americana fashion Ralph Lauren’s daydream, Caity’s new shoot (and by far her best, in our humble opinion) comes straight from the woman herself. Having seen the carefully curated selections on Caity’s Pinterest, it’s clear that making surfboards skip effortlessly through the water isn’t the only thing she’s a natural at.

Caity was calling the shots in everything from the colour of the couch to the shade of the tartan packaging (we’re still waiting for conformation on whether she talent-scouted the sheep individually, but it wouldn’t surprise…), going back and forth with the SC design team over a whole year, hitting deadlines on time and under budget in true magazine ed fashion. 

Now it’s worth noting that the surname “Simmers” is as Scottish as peat and fog, and, a little digging reveals that Caity’s far from the first of her clan to excel in the sporting field. Great Uncles twice removed — Brian, Chris and Max — all belted out the unrivalled “Flower of Scotland” at Murrayfield whilst giving those invading b*stards south of the border a good hiding, and cousin Bill kicked the pig’s bladder (ie. football, soccer if you must, a game of the Scots, despite what the English might have you believe) for their country too.

Caity’s section of the clan has been based in the more tepid, user-friendly waters of Oceanside, California. The only thing that could top this wonderful reconnection with her highland roots, is to see her ply her trade in the remarkable waves the North coast of Scotland has to offer (see here for proof), which seeing her aptitude for slabs, simply must happen at some point.

While the collab may have started as a Courtney Love, pink grunge daydream (the remnants seen in splashes of colour dotted throughout like the pink star pictured above and some tribal graff on the packaging), in the end the strength of Caity’s Highland roots were too sturdy to ignore. It’s not often that a product shoot gets a unanimous nod of approval from the notoriously fickle Stab peanut gallery, but Caity x Skullcandy received an unprecedented five deep fried mars bars out of five. Bravo.

Grab yourself some tub-thumping heritage and turn the bagpipes up to eleven.