"A Few Words with Fernando, the Man Behind the Reef Girls," by Bill Sharp, ran in the December 2000 issue of Surf News. Fernando Aguerre and his brother Santiago, not long after moving to California in the mid-'80s, founded the Reef Brazil company, best know for beach sandals and ads featuring thong-wearing models. By the time he spoke with Sharp, Fernando was better-known as an advocate for surfing's inclusion in the Olympics. This version of their interview has been slightly edited and shortened.

How did you and your brother Santiago, just a couple of Argentinean surf rats, become the kings of surf sandals?

We began by contemplating how we could combine the sport we loved with the workplace. It was around 1969, and being surfers, we started out fixing boards and manufacturing surf leashes. Soon after we began running contests. But the mayor of our town [Mar del Plata] was involved with the military and decided to ban surfing for a year. For that year, all we thought about was how we could get surfing legalized again. You could actually get arrested for surfing in our town. However, the sport was soon legalized again and we started the National Surfing Association of Argentina and began running contests. My brother and I pretty much became the messiahs of the sport for Argentina. From there we opened up a shop and started manufacturing clothing. We were full-blown surf businessmen and I was still in college. My brother, however, didn't want to go to college and left for California instead. Two years later, after I received my law degree, I came out here to join him.

Six months after we agreed upon the idea of sandals, we learned that our laminated materials contained toxic chemicals, ones that were really harmful. So we fixed the problem, invented a product and sold it to Jeff Kelly at Trac-Top. We sold a quarter of a million pieces through them. Of course though, after 30 years of being near the ocean you become a specialist; you've been in the war and you understand the trends of the marketplace. That gives you a strong vantage point.

For me, success is giving back. Success is figuring out how to take everything from money to experience to knowledge and give it back. Coming from another country, I never felt that I was at a disadvantage. I felt that I had a different set of assets and skills from the average American. If you can keep the values in which you were raised and add the values upon which America was built, you'll have a rich background.

You're the president of the International Surfing Association. What has become of your quest to get surfing into the Olympics?

The Olympics is like an expedition to Mars: at one time it seemed so far-fetched, but now I realize it's just a fucking long road. But if you go step by step, you can get almost anywhere. So our approach right now is about making noise and running the best possible contests. You know, there's always the debate whether the Olympics is good or bad for the sport. But I say, "Hey, the Olympics are a part of life and if you want exposure you need to be a part of the Games."

How do you see the current state of amateur surfing in the U.S.?

The biggest problem is that there is no connection between the most basic, local contests and the upper echelons. But again, the problem is that many people don't believe that surfing is a sport. Probably because the true passion and pleasure of the sport does not come from competition. And the problem is that with a lot of our organizations, the only aspect of the sport they have developed is the competitive side. It's like if you send your kid to school and the only thing they focus on developing is their brain, nothing for the heart or the body. They'll end up educated and intelligent, but they'll be like amoebas sitting in front of a fricken' TV.

I think what we need to do is to get all the groups who are trying to achieve related goals by independent means together and have them form a mission statement as to what it is they are trying to do; how they are going to benefit the surfers. Most surf companies, for example, don't have an industry view as to how to develop the sport and the athletes—they have a company view, a brand view. Somebody needs to bring all the views together to determine which is the best model. Life is a compromise: you gotta give something up to benefit someone else.

What's your evaluation of the surf industry today?

Surfing as an industry has enjoyed a good run for the last few years. We've had about 10 years of wealth and growth in conjunction with the American economy. My fear is, I don't know how prepared we are when things slow down, when the mainstream consumer stops supporting surfing as a trend. Unfortunately, we only think about these things in times of crisis. And by that time it's usually too late.

As surfers, we're very selfish people: "I want the wave for me, not for you and me." That pattern of behavior is held throughout the entire industry. Many times we do work together, but we are not a team. So I think that is the biggest challenge for the industry; to come together as a team.

If you were in charge of the surf industry, what would you want to influence people to do?

Militantly, irreverently, overtly and defiantly get people to support the protection of the environment, or at least the beaches and the oceans. As it is now, people send checks to the Surfrider Foundation in the same way we Catholics go to church: we pray, say four Hail Marys then go home and relax for the rest of the week. We send our checks in and think, "Hey, I've done my fucking job. I can't fix the world but at least I can send a check in to save the world." It seems as though an environment-friendly industry is almost an oxymoron. But what do we do to fix what we have done? We haven't done shit yet.

We could also hand out awards for the top businesses of the industry, like the Oscars. That would create a huge PR deal for the industry because only a few guys would actually receive the awards, but everyone would vote and get involved and the rest of the world would be paying attention. Something like that would give a lot back to the industry.

Unfortunately for so many of the big projects the industry would like to do, they get to a certain point then some of the participants get scared of the others and the team spirit disappears. If one side holds the ball for too long the other side gets sick of playing. It becomes a vicious cycle.

You've been deeply involved in many causes, are you disappointed by the lack of initiative from others?

Our capabilities are not up to par as our marketing and business efforts would have you believe. If you look at how successful the industry has been as a whole, how successful our businesses and entrepreneurship have been, it seems as though we're not putting in enough effort to these causes. We have both public and private companies that are huge, our industry is booming, we're growing by leaps and bounds, but the results aren't there. But I do believe we have the ability to achieve these goals and to have higher visibility and influence.

Sometimes in our obsession with concentrating on business matters, we forget that the sport and market are fed by love, which is why people buy what we sell. Marketing is a love-building machine—nothing else. I know it sounds crazy, but that's the way it is. It's like when you meet your girlfriend or your wife for the first time. You don't talk about how much frickin' money you have, have much weight you lift at the gym, or how fast you drive your car. Who gives a fuck about that? You talk about your dreams and visions. And then you come to a point where you start thinking about having kids, how you are going to pay for their schooling—things like that. And it's those things, those joined projects, that are going to keep an organization, an industry, a lifestyle and culture strong.

Speaking of things people love, Reef's marketing has always centered on what much of the surfing population loves: perfect waves and beautiful girls. But there is a very vocal group out there that doesn't agree with that message.

First, that group might be vocal but their numbers are nominal. Secondly, I'm not downplaying anything: this is reality. Most guys love seeing beautiful women. And the point that the media chooses to ignore is that women love seeing beautiful women as well, Why else do you think they put all these supermodels on the covers of Elie, Seventeen, Cosmo, etc. They're sure not putting pictures up of your mama or mine.

Do you think the surf business has certain responsibilities to uphold?

We have to do things in a responsible way, yes. I would never promote violence, drugs, abuse, demoralization of women, or anything like that. I mean, If we can't get people to love surfing as a sport and to regard the industry as one that's cool . . . well, fuck, look at the music industry. It's one of the worst industries there is. It's full of hawks, fuckers and screwups, but people love music. It's a very important part of our lives. Now, look at sex. Have we addressed how important sex is to the industry? No, because we can't talk about sex in America. If you do, you're considered a sinner; it's politically incorrect. Well, Reef has talked about sex for most of its life—but in a classy way. Surfers are very hedonistic. We love physical activities, we love to say "Fuck it" to the rest of the world and go surfing.

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