When people discover Cult Surfing, they sometimes assume we’re just another brand ordering products somewhere in China and selling them online.
The truth is a bit different.
Cult Surfing started as a passion project. A lot of trial and error. And eventually… a plane ticket to China.
After Alan and I decided to start this adventure together, I began working on the very first seat cover samples in Belgium. Nothing fancy, just rough prototypes that I stitched together myself to understand how the covers should fit, where openings should be, and how the fabric should wrap around the seats.
Once I had built the first prototypes in Belgium, I started looking for the right manufacturing partner to help turn them into a real product.
One person stood out immediately: Helen.
She always replied quickly, came back with solutions instead of problems, and communication just felt easy. Sometimes intuition plays a bigger role than spreadsheets, and my gut told me she was the right person to work with.
So we started the sample process.
At first, the plan was simple: ship materials back and forth until the samples were right. But it quickly became clear that this would take forever. Every small adjustment meant sending things across the world again.
So I thought: why not go there myself?
At the same time I had planned a surf trip that summer. My idea was simple: start in China, visit the factory, and then continue the trip to Sri Lanka, Indonesia and the Maldives.
So I booked my ticket, applied for my visa, packed my surfboard and backpack… and suddenly it became real.
I had never been to China before and, honestly, I was pretty nervous.
When I arrived at the airport with my surfboard bag and backpack, I suddenly realised how out of place I looked. Everyone around me was dressed in suits, moving quickly through the airport like they had very important meetings to attend. And there I was… with a surfboard.
People were definitely giving me some confused looks.
I remember thinking: what on earth am I doing here?
When I walked out of the airport, a driver and Helen were waiting for me. They had driven three hours just to come pick me up.
Helen’s spoken English was quite limited. She writes English very well and uses the WeChat translator perfectly, but speaking was a bit harder. So our communication was a mix of simple English, translation apps and a lot of hand gestures.
But somehow it worked.
The next morning they picked me up again and we went to the factory.
I was welcomed by the owner, given a quick tour of the production floor, and then we got straight to work.
They had already prepared a first sample seat cover and we immediately started fitting it.
From there the real work began.
We looked at fabrics, discussed materials, explored different finishing techniques, talked about packaging and stitching details, all the small things people never think about when they buy a product.
Over the following days we adjusted patterns, ordered the right materials and refined the designs step by step.
After a few intense days, the factory team needed some time to finish the final samples. So one of the days we took a small trip into the mountains nearby.
There we visited one of the most beautiful temples I had ever seen.
I remember being struck by the incredible attention to detail. Everything was so carefully designed — the colours, the carvings, the balance in the architecture. It made me realise how strong the Chinese sense for beauty and craftsmanship really is.
While standing there, something unexpected happened.
A strange calm suddenly came over me. All the nervous tension I had been carrying for weeks — the stress of the trip, the uncertainty about the factory, the responsibility of starting something new, it all just released at once.
And I started crying.
Not in a dramatic way. Just quiet tears.
I think it was simply the moment when all that built-up pressure finally left my body.
A few days later we finished the samples.
Seven working days after arriving, we had the final versions of our first products: the single and the double seat covers.
Looking back now, that trip was incredibly important for Cult Surfing.
And honestly, China itself was an amazing experience.
I was treated like a queen everywhere I went. People were incredibly welcoming and helpful. I’ve rarely felt so safe travelling alone.
And the food… wow.
I already love Asian food in general, but China was on another level.
Last year I returned again, this time together with Alan. We made a small round trip and visited several factories. Not only the one we already work with, but also others.
The goal wasn’t just production. It was building relationships and finding the right partners for new products we want to develop for Cult.
There are still many misconceptions about producing in China. People often imagine bad working conditions or cheap mass production without care.
For me it was important to see things with my own eyes.
Cult Surfing is not a dropshipping brand.
We’re not ordering random products and putting our logo on them.
Every product starts with an idea, a lot of testing, and real collaboration with the people who produce them.
And sometimes that collaboration starts with a nervous surfer arriving at a Chinese airport with a backpack and a surfboard.