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Physical Address: 243 Dyers Rd, Bromley, Christchurch 8062
Operating Since: 1987—we have been making and repairing wetsuits for over 25 years. We have made over 50,000 wetsuits and repaired thousands more wetsuits of all different brands and for many different problems.
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| Kelly, Paul Jared and Tom |
What are you all about?
What kind of clothes do you make?
Seventhwave Wetsuits is a New Zealand owned and operated company dedicated to providing high performance, warm, flexible, lightweight, and hard wearing wetsuits for all water-sport enthusiasts. We design, manufacture and test all of our products here in Christchurch — the cold waters of the South Island are our testing ground. We pride ourself on products that are made to fit, made to perform, made to last and made in NZ.
What is unique about our wetsuits (as well as being New Zealand made), is what our wetsuits are made of, and how they are made.
Firstly, we use Japanese Yamamoto neoprene for all of our products — a limestone based neoprene of very high quality. Compared to traditional petro-chemical neoprene used by most other manufacturers, limestone neoprene has a closed-cell content of over 94%. What this means, in simple terms, is that limestone neoprene has a lot more air bubbles inside the rubber than other brands (over 30% to be exact), and is less dense than oil-based neoprene. These thermal and water repellent properties make our wetsuits exceptionally warm and very quick drying.
Secondly, we have a specialised custom-fit service where we can tailor our wetsuits to anyone's specific measurements, needs and requirements. We've found approximately a third of people don't fit a standard sized wetsuit, so to get the best fit, maximum warmth and top performance, custom-fit can be applied to any of our wetsuit models. Best of all, our perfected online process means the customer can order a custom-fit wetsuit from anywhere in the world, hassle free.
We provide a lifetime warranty on all our stitching and workmanship, as well as having a superior and efficient repair service to fix all brands of wetsuits for all kinds of problems.
Who makes your wetsuits?
All of our products are designed and manufactured at our factory in Christchurch. Our custom-fit team, machinists, screen printers, cutters, pattern designers and customer service team are all together in the one place. When you order a wetsuit, make an enquiry or make any kind of contact with us you are speaking directly with one of us. This makes it easier for us to get all of our designs and wetsuits exactly right. We like dealing directly with our customers to make sure that we are getting every wetsuit perfect, every time.
Who sells your wetsuits? Can we buy them online?
All of our products are available online, delivery is free and within 10 days anywhere worldwide. We also have our shop in Christchurch which is like a hardware shop for everything wetsuit and wetsuit related. We mainly sell direct to customers to make sure we are meeting each person's unique needs.
What price range are your wetsuits in?
Our wetsuits range from $79 to $1099. Price is dependent on what exactly you need from a wetsuit (whether it's superstretch or more hardy/durable, extremely warm or a summer session suit) or where and how you are using the wetsuit (surfing, diving, canyoning, in tropical waters or very cold deep south winter waters).
Our wetsuits are on the upper scale of price because of the higher quality neoprene we use, but they last longer, stay warmer and don't perish the way other big-name mass produced wetsuits do. A Seventhwave wetsuit is an investment and our customer feedback endorses this opinion.
Why do you think NZ clothing labels outsource their manufacturing overseas?
Financial reasons are the main reason NZ companies are choosing to manufacture overseas. For us though we like to have full control over what happens with our products, which you lose when you take the manufacturing halfway around the world. Because we focus on the fit of the wetsuit, to have them manufactured overseas is just not feasible when we tend to be making each suit individually. It would simply take too long to get the product to the customer when instead we can turn around a customised wetsuit in ten days or less. Besides, we are proud to be a NZ made company.
At the beginning of Seventhwave (back in the 80's) we spent a considerable amount of time exporting, manufacturing bigger runs, and running stock in other countries and it simply did not work for us. We like being able to watch a suit being made—from the first email or discussion with a customer right through to their first surf or use. It makes it easier to make sure that every suit that leaves our factory is exactly how it should be, and that every customer is going to be very happy.
What could the Government do to help clothing labels keep it in NZ?
It's a hard one to answer without saying financial incentives or hand-outs. And no one likes anyone getting a hand out. The difficulty is it all boils down to more costs and that's why NZ-made is often more expensive; especially if it involves a lot of labour.
Anything to add?
We really pride ourselves on sharing our extensive knowledge of all things wetsuits with the world, regardless of whether they are a Seventhwave customer or not. From historical guides to e-books, we've been making available some really cool and informative content, so if you want to know more about our craft, have a peek at our Wetsuits101 section on our website.
