Kelly Slater Slaps The Sunscreen Industry’s Burnt Back, Launches ‘Freaks Of Nature’ Skincare

You can read the Stab Interview with Kelly Slater here – where he discusses his entrepreneurial ideology among other things.

Clothing, surfboards, fins, traction pads, wave pools, ayahuasca retreats, repurposed lumber, health beverages, sandals and now… skincare. 

Serial entrepreneur Kelly Slater has entered the $109.71 billion USD skincare game less than 12 months after launching KLLY footwear in late May 2023. ‘Freaks of Nature’ (FN) skincare lists the 11x World Champ as a co-founder alongside shark conservationist Ocean Ramsey and freeclimber Nina Williams. Other investors include Mike Meldman, Co-Founder of Casamigos tequila, and actor and filmmaker Jonah Hill.

The company currently has three reef-safe, sustainably-packaged products available for purchase on their website: two sunscreens, and a moisturizer/serum gel. 

“It’s kind of amazing I still have skin after all this time,” Slater told People magazine. “As I’m aging, I take more time to take care of myself. I like to have a hand in the knowledge behind the products I use or the things I do.” An ethos he applies from his sustainable clothing brand OuterKnown to his repurposed lumber company YORKS. “I like the idea of being a ‘freak,’ said Slater, adding that the word “should be an inspiration for people to aspire to something that’s not normal and that you can push yourself toward.” 

Does make you wonder how many Missy Elliott tracks are in the pre-heat playlist.

Interestingly, last week respected industry exec Dylan Slater was tapped to lead the new holding company for Outerknown, Firewire, Slater Designs and Endorfins. “To have all of these major brands under one collective roof allows us to bring our pioneering innovation in sustainable apparel to the wider surf community, showing what’s possible by doing business in the most responsible way,” Kelly told Shop-Eat-Surf.

FN however, will not fall into Dyl’s portfolio being a subsidiary of the Squared Circles venture group headquartered in NYC – whose mission statement reads “solving real needs and tension for the Conscious Maximalist. We incubate new businesses and new business units in Health & Wellness and Food & Beverage and make occasional investments in adjacent businesses and categories.”

Other surfer-owned skincare products include: Standard Procedure (Dion Agius) and We Are Feel Good Inc (Jake ‘Snake’ Paterson).