Meet Humans of Castart #9
Frederik Valgaeren or Fre, a surfboard and skateboard shaper who opened up his own label Fiber Shape in 2016. We’ve met Frederik in his wooden self-designed atelier at Ludgart Site Beringen where he shares the hub with likeminded creators of all industries. So, as its own workspace the whole area has been an inspiring journey for us.
When we’ve asked Fre the question how all this started, we immediately felt
the pure passion and craftmanship leading him to where he is now. In his 20’s Fre decided to work as crew on those well familiar surfcamps for buildup and break-downs.
Not much later he used all his spare time riding the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
As handymen he started experimenting with creating his own boards in different shapes
and with a variety of fabrics and that’s where both of his biggest interests became one.
As the whole surf scene is one big bunch of friends Fre really believes that enlarging
his community is what will drive him to further inspire himself and others in for the future.
That’s also why he has teamriders to test new styles & he is looking to set-up workshops creating your own skateboard from scratch.
For us it was an eye opener to see the different production stages needed before riding the waves. Going fully into all details takes us hours to explain as there are almost 40 small steps, but it generally goes from designing to gluing the materials to shaping the board to artwork to finally coating it. No mass production for Fre. All surfboards are exclusive, ecological & built from scratch. As everything is customizable the possibilities are really endless so to all surfers, let’s go crazy (or not at all)!
Not surprisingly Fre’s eye fell on our specialty and durable fabrics wearing our Tiger Tooth seersucker shorts in navy & Devilshead short sleeve linen shirt in Middle Blue. A great outfit for an after-surf beer evening with friends.
If you want to know more about his journey or you would just like to swing by (he is the most welcoming and open person you’ve ever met) feel free to visit his website or follow him on social media to get in contact with him. Or spot him on beach of Belgium & The Netherlands to clear his head now that he can’t travel that much as in his 20’s.
