Duotone Diversity Magazine No.02 2020

I grew up in the mountains. At the age of three, I was already on skis. As a young skater, I was fascinated by this watersport trend that was sweeping towards Europe from Hawaii – I was desperate to be a professional windsurfer. Things turned out differently: in the early 1990s I became a professional snowboarder. And in 1999 I started kitesurfing. Looking at all these different popular sports, I have repeatedly come to the conclusion that kitesurfing is the most diverse. In Cape Town recently I saw someone in the prime of life, well past retirement age, ripping waves in a way that had me rubbing my eyes in astonishment. Stood on the beach was his four-year-old grandchild on a training kite, which was being thrown up in the air for him by his father during a break from kite foiling. Three generations of the same family, fascinated by the same sport. Generation Z, the young kiters, are setting credible trends with their unerring instincts as they aspire to emulate contemporary role models, like world champions Mikaili Sol, age 15, and Valentin Rodriguez, age 17. But these young guns are not just crazy about wakestyle-inspired freestyle kiting. On beaches all around the globe, growing numbers of young surfers are grabbing their kites and copying the strapless moves of a certain Airton Cozzolino. Meanwhile, the previous generation, who were often kiting pioneers, are seeking new challenges in kite foiling, which is having a rejuvenating impact on many in the sport. And kitesports have no issue with the proportion of women participating. Currently there are more women than ever who are passionate about kiting because the equipment is so highly developed and straightforward, it is a joy to use. This kind of cross-generational, interdisciplinary enjoyment and gender inclusivity cannot be matched in any other sport. It is a joy to see. And it’s a massive motivation for us at Duotone. The variety of people engaged in every individual aspect of our favourite sport encourages a diverse array of products, which motivates our expert R&D team to develop gear for every area of the sport with a particular focus on highly specialised kites, boards, bars and foils. This includes foils that can tackle the lowest wind strengths, enabling kiting in previously unimaginable light wind areas, as well as gear that can handle the tough wave conditions favoured by young adventurers or easy cruising enjoyment for the occasional leisure kiter. Refining the equipment for all these applications requires plenty of specialist know-how. This is a massive challenge – but also a massive opportunity. This diversity is contributing to our current development of new materials, lightweight, dynamic, innovative kite designs, initially produced to offer benefits in one specialist area, but also (with an eye on broader applicability during development) capable of being adapted for other applications to create exciting new products. And throughout this process, we are taking the utmost care to minimise our environmental impact on the world. So I can confidently say, now that the bow and delta trend is far behind us, we are currently witnessing the most exciting period in kite development. The next few years will bring about innovations that significantly lower the wind speeds required for kiting, allowing more people to access kitesports. It is my personal pledge and our obligation and aspiration as market leaders that everyone, yes really everyone, should be able to find the perfect equipment at Duotone, no matter what is driving their passion for kitesurfing. Because everyone should be able to get maximum enjoyment from this exhilarating sport, making the most of an inspirational experience in nature. D I V E R S I T Y Reno Romeu, Airton Cozzolino Photos Toby Bromwich Composition Noè Font T I L L E B E R L E C EO BOA RD S & MOR E 1 9 D I V E R S I T Y E D I T O R I A L