Robert Kelly Slater better known as Kelly Slater was born in Cocoa Beach, Florida, the United States on February 11, 1972. He is an American professional surferenvironmental activist, entrepreneur, and innovator. Many know him like 11 times surfing world champion but not many know him as one of the people who give a change to the world of sustainable fashion.
He left behind the brand has been sponsored him for a long time, Quiksilver and built his own brand with a focus on natural materials. The brand, Outerknown, began collaboration with designer John Moore. This brand offers high-quality men’s casual clothing. Every design of the clothing both in the manufacture and production process tries to protect the Earth and the people who live in it. Slater uses discarded materials from other fashion brands. One example is Econyl, the cloth used for Outerknown swimming trunks. The cloth is made from recycled fishing nets.
The childhood of Kelly Slater
Slater grew up in Cocoa Beach, Florida and still lives there. He is the son of Judy Moriarity and Stephen Slater and has two brothers, Sean and Stephen, and a daughter, Taylor, who was born in 1996.
He was the son of a bait shop owner so he grew up near water and began surfing at the age of five. At the age of 10 he won the match and in 1984 he won the title of his first division United States championship. Two years later he finished third in the junior division at the world amateur championship in England, and he won the Pacific Cup junior championship in Australia the following year.
After becoming a professional surfer in 1990, his victory at the prestigious Pipeline Master in Hawaii secured his first world title, and at the age of 20, he became the youngest surfing world champion ever. He then took a break from competitive surfing in late 1998.
Kelly Slater and His Concern for the Environment
Slater is one of the advocates of a sustainable lifestyle and campaigns for healthy living with one of them by avoiding foods that contain GMOs. He said that he was very depressed about the state of the world and the future in terms of pollution. He saw himself as a crusader and hoped to be able to provide assistance to the Mother Earth.
In addition, he felt the need to campaign more about environmental concerns And he thinks that social media is the easiest thing to increase social awareness because it highlights things more quickly and reaches more people.
Social media can put pressure on people who damage the environment. One example is dynamite fishing which occurred on Kandui island in Indonesia and he immediately tweeted about it. Soon the incident stopped the next day. He did not know whether the tweet was the reason, but the police boat came to see and stop the use of the explosives.
Slater always strives to preserve the oceans globally and protect reefs in California through his relationship with Reef Check. In addition, he is also on the Marine Advocacy Advisory Board of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society marine conservation organization. On May 8, 2010, the United States House of Representatives rewarded him extraordinary and unprecedented achievements in the surfing world and for being an outstanding ambassador of sports and role models. This shows that Kelly Slater is really an eco-warrior.
