Spotlight: Surf ’s Up
Breitling Surfers Squad Sally Fitzgibbons and Stephanie Gilmore share their collaboration with the Swiss watchmaker
Breitling join hands with two surfers to experience its sporty watches
uring a visit to Singapore for the Breitling Premier Collection launch, Indonesia Tatler
enjoyed an exclusive chat with Australian surfers Sally Fitzgibbons and Stephanie Gilmore. At the age of 14, Sally became the youngest surfer to win the ASP Pro Junior event, while Stephanie has recently won her seventh World Surf League (WSL) Women’s World Title. Along with American surfing legend Kelly Slater, Sally and Stephanie form the trio that make up the Breitling Surfers Squad, one of Breitling’s three thematic pillars. The three impressive surfers share the brand’s commitment to maintain clean oceans and beaches. Read on to find out more about this exciting new partnership.
How do you feel being chosen? Stephanie: It’s an honour [and] a privilege. Breitling is such an elevated brand. It has such a rich history; a cool brand with a street credibility. As a surfer, it’s so special to have a family like Breitling. They really appreciate our values. We can talk about ocean, we can have a purpose. It’s really fun that we can collaborate on our ideas. We can convey our message to do something much bigger. How did it all start? Stephanie: We were approached by Breitling. They told us about the story, the mission, and a squad, people, or celebrities who are involved and genuinely work on ocean health issues and ocean conservancy. I’ve been a big fan of ocean conservancy for many years now, so as soon as it came to the conversation, I was pretty much sold. In fact, I was really excited: to me, that is the perfect collaboration. It was an easy “yes” for me to come aboard. Of course, Kelly and Sally are my favourite surfers, and I thought that would be a rad project to work on.
Do you collect watches as well? Sally: I have two watches. I am quite a bit of a rookie, so I am learning as we go, being exposed to new pieces in the past six months, learning the story, sharing with collectors, trying to develop my style in collecting watch.
What is your favourite Breitling piece? Sally: My favourite is the Superocean. Stephanie: Mine is the Navitimer. What motivates you to be actively involved in ocean conservancy? Stephanie: We have been surfing for more than 20 years now and we live on the Gold Coast in Australia. Luckily, we are blessed with beautiful beaches, but over time, travelling and seeing places, especially in Bali, it is not what the postcard says, and I realised I had to do something. We had been involved since July, but conservation is something that we have always wanted to do. We hope that we can encourage people to be more conscious about trash and waste, and the importance of reduce, re-use and, recycle.