Bright Ideas Inspire Colorful, Custom Wetsuits

Chad Jones and Rob Fleece seem to always be side by side.

They scuba dive and they surf together. They work together. They design and make wetsuits for Coral Reef, a surf and scuba shop in Westminster that the pair own and manage--together.

"We're as close as brothers," Jones says.

Jones and Fleece met when they were about 10 years old. Their friendship formed out of a mutual love of motorbikes. They grew up just two blocks from each other in Garden Grove, and at several times in their lives have lived under the same roof. Like brothers, they've stood by each other in good times and bad.

"We trust each other," Fleece says. "One time in junior high I was having problems at home so I lived at his house for six months."

The 21-year-olds are now collaborating on Coral Reef's line of custom wetsuits that are tailor-made for surfers and scuba divers.

Jones' father, Tony, founded Coral Reef 17 years ago. Jones began working for his dad at age 5, doing odd jobs like sweeping floors, and later graduated to repairing surfboards when he was in high school. Fleece came on board when he was 15.

Five years ago, Jones and Fleece began producing wetsuits for Coral Reef.

"We started with alterations, because suits rarely fit perfect," Jones says. "That's how we learned how they were made."

The first wetsuits they made were less than spectacular.

"They were god-awful," Jones admits. "The patterns didn't fit right."

They kept refining and adjusting the fit until they got it right.

Although Coral Reef makes wetsuits that customers can buy off the rack, the shop specializes in custom wetsuits molded to the body. Many people don't conform to standard sizes, and when a wetsuit doesn't fit well they can feel like they're wearing a clumsy Gumby costume.

Coral Reef takes 50 measurements to make a custom suit.

"Everybody's body is different," Jones says. "Especially women."

Women used to be at a disadvantage when it came to scuba diving and surfing, he says, because the shapeless wetsuits on the market were uncomfortable. Coral Reef makes wetsuits for women that conform to a feminine form.

Even if they are spending most of their time in the water, divers and surfers want to wear a wetsuit that's flattering as well as functional, not something that makes them look like the Michelin tire man. For women, French-cut stitching or colored panels give the illusion of longer legs and narrower hips.