Some clothing brands have a relatively linear progression in terms of the development of their product ranges; they might start out providing footwear for gentlemen and later on branch out into scientifically-designed, ergonomic fitness and general purpose footwear (As Ecco shoes have done, for example) or expanding a product range to include different kinds of shirts, like polo-neck as well as t-shirts and so on. Some, however, have taken a bit of an unusual route into the industry, and Shore clothing are a case in point. Simon Crawford, the founder, was a student at the time so understandably found it a bit difficult to get money together for his new surf venture in Sussex in the UK-at the time (in the early 80’s) windsurfing was coming up as a new sport, and people were wanting to try it out. Simon started by hiring boards out, and doing a bit of tuition as well. He founded Shore fully later in the 1980’s as a wetsuit supplier. Soon though, demand started to pick up for surf fashion items as well as the standard wetsuits and surfboard aspect; surfing and casual fashion began to get more strongly associated with surfing as a culture with brands such as Quiksilverand Billabong coming to the fore. The brand is an action sport and casual-orientated one; if you visit www.shore.co.uk, it’s immediately apparent that most of the products have a casual, made-to be worn feel. A mixture of patterned and non-patterned designs are used in the gear and the much-vaunted “rider-refined-program” essentially means that Shore’s own sports steam tests the gear and accessories that they produce under sporting conditions, something rare in the fashion industry insofar as testing is concerned. Whilst not applying to every single product, the process makes for pretty durable clothing. The animal range also includes a large number of watches, mostly-surfing-orientated of course but with an emphasis on attempting to attain style for the active whilst being practical at the same time. When Shore was initially set up, one of the first innovations they worked on was a watch strap designed to stop watches from falling off in the sea.-if you want a reliable, durable watch Shore might be the way to go.
