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The Road Less Travelled – Hayden Cox of Haydenshapes
Hayden Cox is a multi-disciplinary Australian designer who experiments with medium, materiality and collaborative design. Through his work, he aims to blur the lines between design and function and is regularly pushing the boundaries of materiality in contemporary construction.
Hayden Cox is best known for Haydenshapes, the eponymous performance surfboard company he founded at age 15. In August 2022, Haydenshapes launched its debut contemporary men’s eady-to-wear collection, exclusively available with fashion luxury retailer Mr Porter and on his own website.
Hayden also recently marked his debut entry into furniture design with an exclusive resin collaboration capsule called SP01 X Hayden Cox, which is comprised of interior objects, consoles, a side table and larger made-to-order pieces including dining tables. This collection was launched exclusively with luxury designer retailer Space Furniture.
Hayden’s award-winning brand is sold all over the world, in more than 70 countries, and has offices in both Sydney and California. His patented parabolic carbon fibre frame technology, FutureFlex, revolutionised surfboard design and globally influenced innovation globally in a way that has not been seen since the 1970s. His Hypto Krypto surfboard model is said to be the highest-selling performance surfboard in the industry’s history and has been awarded ‘Surfboard of The Year’ multiple times across Australia and the United States of America.
Hayden Cox is best known for Haydenshapes, the eponymous performance surfboard company he founded at age 15.
Experienced with multifaceted collaborations and adopting a high-quality approach to product design, Hayden has worked on global projects with prolific New York-based artist Daniel Arsham, Alexander Wang and KITH, along with a recent announcement of a global partnership with The Woolmark Company. This partnership with The Woolmark Company takes a deep dive into the innovative application of wool across multiple categories within surfwear. The debut collaboration capsule of 100 per cent merino wool menswear released in December 2022.
Hayden has been sought out and commissioned to lead projects across the interior design sphere, such as Blainey North for Crown Residences in 2021, technical consumer wearables for Westpac in 2018 and high-end sculpture, art and fashion.
In 2020, Hayden was engaged by Akin Atelier to collaborate on realising the resin concept for the Gallery Shop, part of the high-profile architectural development for the Art Gallery of New South Wales ‘Sydney Modern’ project. Hayden explains, “I like to build things by hand and understand the nuances of the process and materiality in order to achieve the best design outcomes.”
This approach has led to Hayden’s unrivalled success. In August 2021, Hayden was featured on the cover of Australian Financial Review Magazine’s prestigious annual Design Issue, was awarded as a ‘Man of Innovation’ in GQ’s Men of the Year list and also won GOLD at the GOOD DESIGN Awards for his patented FutureFlex carbon fibre frame surfboard construction.
Hayden was recently selected by Apple to feature in the brand’s first Australian campaign for ‘Behind the Mac’, alongside the country’s top 24 creatives, musicians, artists and designers. He is an ambassador for IWC Schaffhausen along with Audi, for whom he featured in the global 2023 campaign for the Audi Active Sphere concept shot in the Canadian Alps.
Through his unique design ethos led by innovation, material exploration and contemporary construction, Hayden has solidified his position as a leading designer on an international scale.
