Dion Agius Releases His Greatest Hits, Olympic Medallist Gets A Swoosh Sticker + CT Rookie Ignites Bidding War
“People fully thought I was cooked,” laughs Former’s hybrid teamrider / creative.
Surprise, surprise — another week, another batch of sponsor changes at the tip of surfing’s spear.
This time it’s Dion Agius. Joel Vaughan. Italo Ferreira. Leggo.
Dion releases his greatest hits, assures surf world of sanity
We covered Dion joining forces with Former many moons ago, but his recent social media activity as of late had us talking once again.
Dion told Stab that after Globe pulled out of the apparel game in March 2023, he found himself navigating the troublesome waters of a skint surf industry, but also a soft identity crisis after hinging so much of his self-worth on being tied to a brand.
“As a sponsored surfer, especially when it’s been your whole life, so much of your self-worth, drive, and purpose is tied to having that main sponsor. It becomes your goal—you’re working for them, with projects already in motion, a sticker on your board, and a sense of purpose. When that’s suddenly gone, it leaves you feeling really lost. I hadn’t been without a sponsor since I was a grom, and it hit hard. I completely understand the gnarly psychological toll this takes, and I’d say it’s an ongoing issue for a lot of athletes who find themselves at this crossroads, thinking, Am I done? It’s especially tough when you’re in that middle ground—feeling like you still have so much to give but not knowing where to go next. Going through that, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be kind of funny to make a “sponsor me” tape?’
Former bit on the idea.
“Over the past month I started fucking around and teasing some stuff on the gram. But it almost ended up backfiring because a lot of people seemed to think I was fully cooked,” he laughs. “I think most people that know me could see what was going on, but Jesus, it felt really good today to actually release the collection so I don’t just look washed-up and desperate.”
Dion’s “VHS tape” remixes some of his greatest hits from his career, and is a reminder of his immense cultural contribution to surfing, whilst also being quite funny.
“It’s been the most interactive thing I’ve done in so long, probably since I did Smiling Bag and had people emailing me to get the movie. Tons of crew got on board with the joke which helped snowball the thing too. I definitely had some funny offers. Eltham Pub were going to give me some stickers. Justin Gane was going to send me some jam. It was mental.”
Check out his Former collection here.
PS, Stab Highway East Coast (USA) presented by Monster Energy star Gabe Morvil also just signed with Former, albeit a bit more quietly. He’s been in Europe the past few waves surfing and filming with Dane. Glad he made his flight this time.
CT rookie ignites a bidding war
Joel Vaughan, a 22-year-old CT rookie from North Shelley Beach, has parted ways with Quiksilver to sign with O’Neill. The Stab Highway California and Fresh + Fried star, renowned for his deadly air game and masterful knifing of Central Coast slabs, finished seventh in the 2024 Challenger Series and will make his CT debut at Pipeline next week. See our 2025 rookie class review with Jake ‘Snake’ Paterson, Doug Silva and 2021 ROTY Morgan Cibilic.
According to a credible industry source, Quiksilver offered Vaughan a substantial two-year deal and fought to retain him despite blistering budget constraints. However, O’Neill reportedly topped the offer by a five-figure sum (annually), prompting Vaughan’s decision to jump ship.
Vaughan marked the end of his eight-year tenure with Quiksilver by releasing a farewell edit titled New Beginnings yesterday morning.
In his announcement, he expressed gratitude to his former sponsor, writing: “My time with Quiksilver has come to an end. I’ve decided to move on and just want to say a huge thank you for all of the support over the last eight years—especially Stace Galbraith, Samuel Griffiths, BillyLee Pope, and everyone else who has been so helpful to me over the years.”
Nike Lays Up World Champ for the Oop
Stab in the Dark test pilot, World Champion, and Olympic gold medalist Italo Ferreira has become the second surfer to don the swoosh in 2025, following Sierra Kerr’s two-year footwear deal with the distressed sneaker giant last week.
After our story titled Nike Swoosh Reenters the Surf Chat, Nikki Kerr (Sierra’s mom) clarified, “Nike has confirmed several times that they won’t be re-entering the surf industry. They continue to sponsor Sierra (with a footwear deal) because of her accomplishments as a multi-sport athlete and the story she’s continually building.”
We reached out to Ferreira’s agents for more details, however they were cryptic and encouraged us to “lean into the mystery” — fine, we can do that.
This new partnership with Italo suggests Nike might quietly making moves back into surfing — and not just with ‘multi-sport’ athletes. Either that, or Italo and his team have worked out a deal with a Nike Brazil branch, which they’d hope to leverage into a proper deal with Nike Global down the track — the same playbook worked for them in the past with Red Bull, which now sits on Italo’s nose.
We’ll keep you posted.
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