About Us

Discovering the Need:

In 2016 when Syd, the founder of Sunskinn, came to Australia one of the first things he noticed was how cautious Australian people are about exposing their skin to the sun.  He was also shocked to learn that Australia has one of the highest UV indexes in the world and, as a result, its population also has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with 1 in 2 people in Australia expected to get a Melanoma due to sun exposure at some time in their lives.  

Even with all of the awareness about the danger of sun exposure, Syd was surprised by the lack of adequately designed shade solutions for use at the beach. They all seemed to be either plastic and flimsy, airless and ugly or bulky and heavy. 

The final straw and moment that inspired the start of Sunskinn’s journey was during a breezy afternoon at the beach in Byron Bay. An umbrella Syd and his friends were using was suddenly caught by a gust of wind and took off across the sand, dangerously tumbling towards unsuspecting beach goers.  Lucky no-one was hurt but the incident motivated Syd to search for a better designed, easy to use and more robust shade that wouldn’t unexpectedly take off & blow down the beach! He searched for something more suitable but none of the options seemed to tick all the boxes. It was then he decided to create his own.

 

The Production Journey:

After finalizing the design, the production of Sunskinn shades started locally. We used a local boutique swimwear manufacturer close to Byron Bay to create the first run of beach shades. It was slow, but it was just the start and we were excited to see how they were received.

After launching the sun shade and witnessing the demand, we soon realized we would have to produce at a larger scale. We have now formed a strong relationship with a manufacture in China that creates our products exactly how we want them and at the volumes we require and, importantly, at a price that allows us to offer our customers great value.

 

OBJECTIVE:

To create a product that fulfils the needs of our customers and keep them safe from the sun (and flying umbrellas!) 

 

 

To deliver a product that not only performs exceptionally well at shading our customers from harmful UV rays but that looks beautiful, is compact to store, light to carry and easy to use.  We set out to design an elegant product that customers love so much they would never again think of using substitutes.

When people truly enjoy using our product, they are more likely to bring shade to the beach and thus, are more likely to be properly protected from the sun.

After testing many available shade solutions on the market, we decided on key attributes that a quality beach shade must have. The perfect beach shade must be:

• Sun-protective
• Robust 
• Wind resistant
• Compact & light weight
• Easy to set up by one person
• 360º visibility

 

As part of Sunskinn's dedicating to protecting people, we donate 10% of our profits to support charitable skin cancer foundations.