Chippa Wilson scoops a new major sponsor

It ain’t been the easiest fistful of months for Chippa Wilson. Considering the amount of exposure he gets, it’s hard to believe that, since Analog retracted from the surfing world back in October, Chip has remained without a main sponsor for four months. But, that just changed.

Fox Surfing, who recently also signed Bruce Irons, have just picked up the Cabarita kid who stomped the world’s first backside big spin. Ask any of his peers and they’ll tell you Chip is unmatched when it comes to tech airs. “He’d have to be the world’s most technical,” says Jay Davies. “The way he compresses on his landings and the spins he does, no-one else does that.” So, the move is a smart one for Fox. The new partnership will see Chip working on his own line, as well as ensuring that one of Stab‘s favourite surfers remains in the game for much longer. After teasing that he’d penned with Target, Chip owned up to Stab that he’d now be covering his craft noses with the Fox head.

Stab: Alright. Lay it on me.
Chippa Wilson: Yep, so, I signed a bit of paper yesterday. I’m now on the Fox team, joined Bruce (Irons), I’m pumped. I’ve got a really good vibe about it all. I’m gonna be doing my own clothes line, which I’m really happy about ’cause that was my main priority. I get to be more creative and have some fun with that stuff.

So, you’re all stickered up? I put the first sticker on this morning. It felt really weird putting one back on the nose, and especially something completely different. I called the team manager this morning and said, “I’m signed on.” It still hasn’t really sunk in yet. But, it’s so good to be able to travel and do my thing again. It was weird for a while there, not having a main sponsor.

How many more weeks was it gonna be ’til you picked up a shovel? God. Fuck. It was weird, I kinda wasn’t getting that many calls at the start of the year from photographers and stuff. Just ’cause it was the start of the year. But, in my head, I was like, Fuck! I really need a main sponsor, this is crazy!

How many times did you hear from a marketing manager: “We love you, but our budget’s tapped?” Oh my god, when I got dropped, almost every company… my manager had a list of so many companies, and as the weeks went on it was like, “We’d love to, but we’ve got no budget,” or whatever. And then at the end I was like, this might not work.

What’s the worst brand you’d have signed with? Did you have tiers of preference? Yeah, I had a rating system. But more so on the people I had to work with. Some of the major brands are rad, but then you don’t get to work with the coolest people. There was a lot more thought put into the future with the company, outside of how big or cool it was. I’m 25 now, so I’m trying to look for a company that’s good to work with, who I can see a future with.

You ain’t changing. Yeah, I wasn’t gonna sign with Rip Curl and go do the ‘QS, I can tell you that (laughs).

Has it felt a touch like school holidays? Kinda! Last year was the busiest year of my life, and to have such a slow start to the year… I just kicked my feet up and cruised. But I spent a lot of time doing things I missed out on last year, like catching up with all my mates, catching up on my bookwork, and moving into my new place in Caba.

Has this been the worst time in the last ten years to be signing a new contract? It’s so scary. That’s another thing, I was happy that I had a solid year for myself last year, I’m so thankful that I got on all those trips, ’cause if I didn’t do too much work, it’d be a lot harder for me right now. And it’s still been one of the hardest times of my life, for sure. It’s so scary. – Elliot Struck