With the sports industry currently contributing approximately $750 million to the city’s economy annually, the Gold Coast is a major hub for world-conquering athletic wear brands, including Dritimes and FIST Handwear.
Dritimes, a producer of rapid-dry towels, is leading the towel market for elite sports and training. Its towels dry five times quicker than a normal cotton towel and is also odour free, highly absorbent and can pack down to nearly the size of a handkerchief.
Chief Operating Officer and Co-founder of Dritimes, Joel McDonald, noted that the brand’s success is driven from its close collaboration with elite athletes on a day-to-day basis.
“Being able to test the product at the best beaches and with the best athletes in the world is just priceless”.
Aside from working with surfers, Dritimes has already partnered to supply the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League and the National Basketball League teams, including Brisbane Bullets, South East Melbourne Phoenix, Cairns Taipans and Sydney Kings.
The brand is currently in the process of launching in the United States through securing partnerships with the NBA and NFL.
McDonald added that while the brand’s towels were designed to meet the needs of athletes, they were not just for elite athlete use.
“I’m a father of four and I’m down at the beach every weekend. We’ve gone from packing out the entire car with towels to being able to take four towels in a section of a backpack. It’s completely changed our world when we go to the beach”.
FIST Handwear is also leading the way in Gold Coast’s success in their homegrown sports products. The brand produces gloves for two-wheel action sports, like motocross, BMX and mountain bike riding. Currently, the brand is available in 56 countries.
McDonald, who is also the Chief Operations Officer for FIST, said that the company aims to be the number one glove brand for all countries at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“We go up against the big North American brands and they are behemoths in the market, but we are taking the fight up to those big brands. In Tokyo, we had eight Olympic teams wear our gloves. We’re aiming for more in Paris”.
