My first Poncho was CM Poncho.
The Idea of the CM came to my ears maybe a year and a half before the first samples and products were made. As for many businesses you wonder if it’s just the next try for someone to get the cool side of retail and business. If you are making products for the beach, you will be probably connected to the beach where your product should sell, if you make products for surfers, you will be connected to surf spots with any kind of cool people and most probably any condition for water sports. This is how it is in my head at least.
A poncho is an outer garment designed to keep the body warm. A rain poncho is made from a watertight material designed to keep the body dry from the rain.
It probably has something to do with Mexico as I’ve seen it in many Western movies as a child, and it’s widely used in the fashion industry.
The birth of the surf ponchos brought this strange shaped scarf with a hole for the head to another level. IT probably came somewhere around 2005. Why? I guess someone got tired of seeing white asses on the parking lots of the famous surf spots around Australia and California and invented the surf Poncho.
From its kick around the 2010 the ponchos are blooming, linearly every surf company is producing at least five different ones, everyone wants to have a line of ponchos within the name of its brand on it, there are brands that sales only ponchos and nothing else as what it is our CM that am I going to mention later.
I remember 2009 summer, we’ve just opened the Siroko center in Limnos when Alex Kuzmov, the ex partner of Stefan (my boss) in the Siroko schools in Bulgaria and the Rip Curl retail business they had together come to me with this oddly looking black Manta.
It was a prototype of Rip Curl, he told me also “mark my words this is going to be a huge fashion accessory”. It was August at the Time, I’d just ask him, “Man aren’t you hot with this one?” He responded to me with “I have nothing under” haha too sexy my friend. Next thing happening on the list he jumps on he’s scooter as we say bye, he starts the ignition of the scooter, goes forward, front tired hits a stone, a gust of wind catches the manta and throws it on Alex face, he tries to keep a straight line for few meters and barely makes it as we see he’s with ass shaking at the seat of the scooter(please Alex if you read that don’t kill me man) and laughing ourselves off.
Later the Rip Curl Manta became a real shape down to the body Poncho exactly after such a test.
So years past I see people wearing ponchos all the time everywhere, probably absolutely nude under hah (it’s the cool side of it) but I never had one. To me it was an unnecessary summer accessory. One reason TOO hot for wearing. I don’t like the cold but I don’t like it very hot either and guess what I spend my life at the beach sweating like crazy.
So once Tsvetomir came to us at Keros and represented his vision for the CM fashion I was surprised. Finally, someone was willing to change the “towel material” with linen fabric, you know getting out of the ordinary I was wow.
My first Poncho was Color Monk, and I chose the lightest material of all- colour Army, yeah i Think it fits the beach colors of Sand and bushes and grass.
And I will share one thing I love about where it is at the hot places we go for trips or teaching trips, after teaching or after riding is the best thing I can put on myself, and off course I wear it with nothing under.
Well there is one slight problem: the lightest material turns out to be the most transparent and I received a few reminders that the beach is for all.
True I used to wear it with nothing under, not anymore 🙂
Color Monks are not only the most colorful ponchos on the market, they have the lightest, and some of them the most transparent materials out there!
There are even baby ponchos!
And I love the looseness of any of the material.
What not to like.
Keep the good work going!
Written by Aleksandar Avdzhiev