They started making their first surfboards in an old sheepfold, behind the family home in L’Houmeau, at the foot of the bridge to the Île de Ré, when they were barely teenagers. Almost thirty-five years later, Thomas and Renaud Cardinal continue to create boards, which are now sold all over the world. They can even be found in fashion shows at Vuitton, Dior or Hermès, or during presentations of new Renault vehicles…
To accompany the success of their boards, the two brothers opened a new workshop this summer in Marennes (Charente-Maritime), on the Atlantic coast. The Shapers Club is intended to be a small, ultra-modern factory entirely dedicated to the custom manufacturing of ultra-personalized boards. But it is also a place dedicated to surfers, who can meet the greatest shapers from all over the world here. “We have created a living space around surf culture, with music, photos, a shop…”, explains Thomas Cardinal.
Five to six international shapers per year
“We invite five to six internationally renowned shapers every year,” continues Thomas Cardinal. They come to share their know-how, and take the opportunity to make a few boards in their name, numbered and signed… A tradition that has been going on since the two brothers started designing boards. “When we started this job, it was very difficult to train because there was no shaping school, and there was no YouTube either,” says the youngest of the two brothers, who remembers that “we bought video cassettes that came from the United States, but we couldn’t play them at the right speed, so we watched them scrambled…”
In short, “it was a different time”, which is why “we started to meet and bring in foreign shapers. They spread the word among themselves that when they came to France, they could come and see us.”
It was the early 1990s, and the two brothers had already left the sheepfold of their beginnings and set up their company, UWL. “And in 2001, we created our first building, in Angoulins, which was already a benchmark in terms of modernity at that time,” recalls Thomas Cardinal. “But we were limited to a production of 1,000 boards per year, and above all we wanted to create a place for meetings and exchanges around surfing.”
Named Living Heritage Company
Hence the Shapers Club project which was born in 2020. “At the end of Covid-19, surfing was one of the few sports authorized, so we took an incredible wave of orders, explains Thomas Cardinal. With the evolution of our turnover, we said to ourselves that it was time to invest in a new project, which we located in Marennes, on the surfing route to the island of Oléron.” Here, the team of 18 people will produce an average of 1,700 boards per year, and could even go up to 3,000 if necessary.
In the process, the company landed a major contract with Dior, to accompany the presentation of a collection designed by Shawn Stussy, considered the founder of streetwear. And at the same time, “we are named EPV, Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant, because we meet all the criteria of a rare profession, with particular know-how, that we have acquired in the four corners of the world.” This is what earned the company an invitation to a presentation this Saturday at the prefecture of La Rochelle, for the Heritage Days, and to have been selected for the Great Exhibition of Made in France, which will be held at the Elysée on October 26 and 27.
“No limits in customization”
But what explains such success? “We specialize in custom-made products, and we have no limits in customization,” says Thomas Cardinal. “We offer 400 different board formats, depending on your size, weight, level, the wave you surf… Then, you can customize it as you wish.”
Although the Shapers Club has equipped itself with a new generation of numerically controlled machines that cut the foam block as close as possible to the final shape, the final “helping hand” of the shaper is nonetheless essential to successfully make a board. Trained by Renaud Cardinal – a past master craftsman – the shapers who work in the Marennes workshop also regularly exchange with professionals from all over the world who pass through here. “We have become an atypical place, where the know-how of the best Americans, Australians, South Africans is brought together,” says Thomas Cardinal.
These unique products are also made with high-end raw materials. “We look for the best wherever it is found. For example, the foam block that will be used for the template of the board comes from the United States or Australia.”
Marquetry and gold rails
Of course, all this has a cost. “Our starting price is 650 euros, but we can go up to almost 3,000 euros depending on the board, especially if you want very specific elements, I’m thinking of marquetry or gold rails, explains Thomas Cardinal. It’s all a question of time: the fastest board we can make will take us five to six hours excluding drying time, and it can go up to forty hours… On very specific projects, I’m thinking of a transparent board that we made, it even went up to sixty hours of work. But these are unique products.”
This is how Shapers Club boards are now sold all over the world. “We sell in Canada, Japan… The non-European part represents 4 to 5% of our turnover, then we have resellers all over Europe (Spain, Germany, England, Italy…) as well as in France. We also do direct sales, carried out on our site in Marennes.” Where the public can also visit the manufacturing plant, before sitting down to drink a coffee, in a relaxed atmosphere.